H@RD TRUTHS BY GHK LALL – Will the new American Ambassador please stand up?

Jan 27, 2024 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

Kaieteur News – I guess we all got a bit spoiled. I did. Though there was difficulty fathoming the intricate and comprehensive involvement of one Sarah Ann Lynch in matters pertaining to Guyana, I must also confess that there was waiting to hear what she would come up with next, in what her hands would be mingled. Said another way, Excellency Lynch grew on Guyanese, to the point that she became mandatory fare, like Oprah Winfrey. The day or week didn’t feel right without some pronouncement from former Ambassador Lynch; the diet was not complete. All things considered, I fell upon a phrase that I think captured the essence of Excellency Lynch perfectly: she was an ‘activist’ ambassador.

GHK Lall

It goes without saying that the former ambassador had her marching orders from Washington. She knew where the soft spots were, what her priorities just had to be, and how to navigate the treacherous shoals of political and racial Guyana. She did manifest the boldness of talking about something called “inclusion” and all Guyanese benefiting from their oil patrimony. Well, she is gone with the wind, and riding on the Jet stream followed by American Airlines there came one Nicole D. Theriot, the fresh, new U.S. Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Guyana. In view of Excellency Theriot’s apparent reclusiveness, I have asked myself on more than one occasion whether the plenipotentiary aspect of her ambassadorship has been neutralized. I assert that the only other diplomats who are so covert in style and substance are those from the other side of the Pacific. Excellency Theriot has not been seen, not been heard, and not been traceable since she reported for duty here. She did, didn’t she? Recently, she did appear at UG, but that is all. Truancy, shirking duty, possibly?

Having said this, there is appreciation that Excellency Theriot has a double role to occupy her time. No, no, it has nothing to do with spying; there are others for such dirty jobs. It just would not do-truly bad form actually-for the ambassador to be anywhere near such activities. Her double role is to function as the United States Ambassador to Guyana, and also the envoy for Exxon to the Guyana Government. Move over Alistair Routledge, let the people with the weight of the American government behind them do the heavy lifting. Perhaps that explains why Ambassador Theriot has not put in much of a public appearance on the local scene since her arrival, none at all. It could be that she is microphone and camera shy.

Due to the poor visibility from her side of the street, however, I am thinking that her superiors at state have identified the scope of her duties in the wake of the Sarah Ann Lynch mission. Just hold the fort. Don’t make any waves. Don’t try to break any new ground (those people are lost anyways). Keep head down. Be as close to non-existent as possible. Frankly, I expected to hear some communiqué coming out from Her Excellency on the recent Venezuelan aggressiveness and pugnaciousness. Allowance is being made in case I missed her appearance due to paying too much attention to that fella, Nicholas Maduro.

Then again, it was Christmas just weeks ago, and the pull of family and the weather may have compelled her Stateside. There is nothing that beats a White Christmas; just ask Elvis Pressley. But there were no Yuletide greetings coming out of neither Duke Street, nor any New Year’s melody for the natives of Guyana. This is tough to deal with, given the Sarah Ann Lynch precedence and syndrome. Get me straight, I really don’t miss Ms. Lynch that much, for her priorities were not about Guyana, but what was good for America. What is good for America is what is good for Exxon. Or vice versa; I am not quibbling.

So, Ambassador Theriot took a sabbatical during the Venezuelan flare-up and sizzle. But certainly, there is some soothing wisdom that should be coming from her good offices about this perplexing loan from the US EXIM bank. America wants to do more business in Guyana, yet the line of credit that was supposedly there is now definitely up in the air, maybe not there at all, anymore. The thinking is that if there is anybody who should be offering a word or two on that embarrassingly delayed loan from the US EXIM bank, it is Ambassador Theriot. What is going on there and here also? What games are the Americans playing? I don’t want to hear about feasibility study for the gas-to-energy project at Wales, I want to see green, as in US currency. Well, that has been a tough nut to crack, and it is nothing doing. This is bad stuff: no loan, no ambassador, no sightings, no sounds. This is like a Stephen King novel. The loan is more than a ghost; it is dead.

Now the outlook doesn’t get any better. Mardi Gras is around the bend, and Ambassador Theriot is from Louisiana. I mean Bourbon Street is almost irresistible in the days before Ash Wednesday. A visit to the old hometown might be on the calendar. If that sounds like Tom Jones, it isn’t. I scan the landscape and foresee that the new American Ambassador, Excellency Nicole D. Theriot will continue to be MIA. Mama Mia! The mystery continues. Please break the silence Excellency, and grace the natives with presence, even if momentary.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)