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Protest – US Ambassador tells it as it is
Hard Truths…
By GHK Lall
Kaieteur News- American protests. Not over there, but right here, in front of US territory on Duke Street, Kingston. What did Ambassador Nicole D. Theriot have to say about that, ahem, surprise development? Plenty, I would say, which I now share. Not in the quantity of her words, but in the sublime quality of them.
“The protest is part of free speech. As long as it is a peaceful protest, we are more than happy to hear the demands.” So said Excellency Theriot. If there is one thing that could be said about America, it is that even its political appointments are at another level. My understanding is that our own dear Excellency Irfaan Ali was in the vicinity. My hope is that he did a good job preventing the color from rushing to his face. The last thing I wish for the world to see is how much different Guyana’s approach has been to peaceful protests, and how Pres. Ali’s face tells the tale of what he thinks of protests.
To keep everybody happy, I try a soothing remedy. Frankly, Pres. Ali has rarely seen a protest that pleases him. For some reason, he takes these things personally, as though some grievous slander has been directed at his person, his presidency, and his emotional stability, such as it is. Say protest and Pres. Ali goes into a fighting stance, with pugnacious snarl, conveying to the objects of his derision, where he stands. Politically motivated. That’s Guyana’s first citizen’s stock response to protests. Oftentimes, I believe those are the only two words in his vocabulary. Since there is no one at the Office of the President with the guts to share Ambassador Theriot’s symphony with him, then that rough duty falls to me. The excerpt is on its way via Express Mail: “The protest is part of free speech. As long as it is a peaceful protest, we are more than happy to hear the demands.” I believe that there was a diplomatic reprimand in there from Excellency Theriot for Excellency Ali.
That’s someone without any insecurities, but supreme confidence in the power of her position. From my own experience, it is clear that once Pres. Ali hears the word “protest” he loses control and loses sight of what the US ambassador pointed out: it is part of free speech. In the event that Pres. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has a hearing problem, I enlarge the fonts and capitalize them: PROTEST is part of FREE SPEECH. This has nothing to do with sacred constitutions and the ideals of democracy. It is about a state of mind that was in place long before the Athenians started their experiments with what is called democracy. Where free thinking empowers speaking freely and moving freely and protesting freely, without regard for presidential censorship. As always, peaceful is the inseparable and identical twin of protest. A word of advice is extended for the benefit of Pres. Ali. The position and elevation where the president find himself mean that he has to deal with Americans. In turn, that means not just free enterprise, but a convincing dedication to the best standards of free speech also. No matter how beneficial it may be to his visions, Excellency Ali should not try to do the impossible. That is, he cannot serve two masters at the same time. He is either a capitalist with all the stops pulled, or he is a communist with all those mind controls still very much in place.
I hope that the president heard what I interpret to be a smoothly coiffed fist as the parting salvo. From Ambassador Theriot came this beauty, “as long as it is peaceful protest, we are more than happy to hear the demands.” Is that American through and through, or what? Notwithstanding all the grandstanding going on in Washington, and which will grind to a halt soon enough. Just give it some slack, a little time. The day that I hear Guyana’s president come up with something within walking distance of “happy to hear the demands” of peaceful protestors, then that is the time for me to check into a sanitarium. Take note that I wrote sanitarium and not a sanitorium, which deals with stark, staring, raving mad people, of whom there are enough in the PPP Government from top to bottom. To convey my expression of spiritual happiness, I leave room for those definitely ill brothers.
Instead of saying that President Ali must grow up and mature in his demanding role, my preference is to go a different route. He must learn to extend his learning curve, and have the confidence to rest comfortably on it. Protests, be they for access to information, or an end to the secrecies masking the business of the Guyanese people, or the termination of political abuse and witch hunts, enjoy a special standing in any self-respecting democracy. Protests have a ready place in the hearts of men and women, and near those Mohamed Irfaan Ali, leader, contender, and aggressor, should have better sense than to venture. Thanks, Madame Ambassador.
(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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The ambassador can spew that nonsense when the embassy is protected by a battalion of TSU ranks of the Guyana Police Force.In addition to other layers of embassy SECURITY.Does she need to be reminded that this is Guyana you’re living in?She must be aware that what goes down in Guyana when things get raucous WOULD NEVER BE TOLERATED IN THE “USA”.The authorities respond in the APPROPRIATE manner to protect their citizenry,as they should.So Guyana should + must do the same.