Cry a tear for Guyana!

Mar 06, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom…

Kaieteur News- Guyana has entered a dark era. This is a time when the nation stands at the crossroads of its own soul.

The nation is now weighed down by the heavy shadow of a government that has thrown every ounce of decency to the wind in its relentless pursuit to retain power. By any means possible.  Fair or foul. It is all fair game.

This darkness that now shrouds Guyana is not a nostalgic return to the brutal dictatorship of Burnham’s era. No, what we are witnessing today is a new breed of malice, one that is far more insidious, far more toxic, and far more dangerous.  For while Burnham may have been a tyrant, there was still some measure of restraint—a sense, albeit fleeting, of a generally government trying to keep its actions within the confines of the law. What we see today is far worse; the government of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has descended to the lowest of lows, turning institutions of the state into weapons, corrupting every fibre of governance with a venomous hatred for anyone who dares to challenge their authority.

The current government has made it abundantly clear that it is not enough to merely oppose them on policy grounds; no, they will not allow political dissent without branding the critics them as enemies of the state. These enemies they say will be dealt with.  The PPP/C is now bent on making an example of those who dare raise their voices against them. And they do so with such ferocity that it would make even the most hardened authoritarian regime blush.

Paramountcy of the party has now been superseded by elite capture of the state.  State institutions are no longer separate from the will of the ruling party. They are being weaponized for the express purpose of going after perceived rivals.  We are no longer living in a free society. It is a society in which the government’s very survival depends on quashing opposition, on making an example of anyone who dares to stand in their way. It is a government that is bent on silencing voices that seek to expose their corruption and mismanagement.

The government’s relentless pursuit of its critics has taken a horrifying turn into the grotesque, a descent into a realm of baseless accusations, fabricated crimes, and concocted scandals that have no basis in reality. Except in the fevered imaginations of those in power.

There was a time in Guyana when having political differences could lead to a debate, a clash of ideas, or perhaps even a moment of reckoning for policy reform. Today, having a different opinion means having your name dragged through the mud, your character defamed, and your very existence placed under the microscope of government-backed propaganda.

This is not a political disagreement; this is an attack on freedom itself. The government is determined and obsessed with sending a strong message to anyone, even those who they merely suspect wants to run for political office. And to this end they are weaponizing state institutions. But the weaponization of state institutions is not the only threat hanging over Guyana. The press now finds itself under siege. In a country where the government controls vast swaths of public advertising, the very power of the state’s financial resources is being wielded as a threat to undermine the free press. The press is facing the threat of state advertisements being used to starve out independent voices and punish those who dare criticize the regime. If a journalist dares to ask the wrong question or publish an unflattering story about the government, they risk losing the very lifeblood that keeps their newspaper afloat. This is not merely a blow to press freedom; it is an existential threat to the future of independent journalism in Guyana. And yet, this is the reality that the PPP/C has chosen to impose on the nation.

Social media, a frontier for dissenting voices, has become a battleground for the government’s propaganda machine. Under the guise of digital democracy, social media is now a tool for scandalizing, demonizing, and bullying anyone who dares to stand in opposition.

The venomous rhetoric flowing from government-affiliated trolls has poisoned the political and social discourse. Serious accusations are being flung around with abandon, creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The government’s foot soldiers, engage in the most despicable acts of character assassination. This is not political engagement; this is the stoking of fear and hatred to silence any opposition to the ruling party’s cling on power.

And behind it all, there are the lies—the lies that have been carefully crafted to intimidate, to coerce, and to divide. Lies told with such conviction and malice that even the most discerning of minds can become disoriented in the fog of misinformation.

It’s no coincidence from where that this campaign of lies and fear is emanating. The puppet masters pulling the strings are easily identifiable. And yet like any fascist regime, they seek to justify their actions.

Cry a tear for Guyana today, for we have entered an era where truth is the first casualty, and freedom will soon become a distant memory. The ruling party has shown us its true face, and it is one of unbridled fear, loathing, and a desperate desire to maintain power at any cost.

(Cry a tear for Guyana!)

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

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• brutal dictatorship, Fair or foul, Peeping Tom, People’s Progressive Party Civic, political dissent

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