U.S. concerned if Azruddin gets into Govt.

Jul 24, 2025 News

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…Ambassador Theriot says U.S. Govt., private sector would rethink doing business with Guyana

Kaieteur News – With Azruddin Mohamed in the 2025 presidential race, United States Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot has disclosed that the U.S. is “very concerned” about the possibility of the businessman who has been sanctioned U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) entering government and how that would affect the dynamics between Georgetown and Washington.

Last year, Mohamed, his father Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, their businesses, and government official Mae Thomas were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The Mohameds were sanctioned for alleged gold smuggling. When it announced the sanction OFAC said: “Today’s action underscores our commitment to holding accountable those who seek to exploit Guyana’s underdeveloped gold sector for personal gain,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. It added” These actions were conducted in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force, Diplomatic Security Service, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Intelligence – New York Operations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Miami Field Office, with assistance from HSI Miami, CBP Miami and New York Field Offices, New York City Police Department Intelligence Bureau, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

According to OFAC gold is one of Guyana’s main exports, but it remains a highly fractured industry with small-scale gold mining operations in Guyana occupying a majority share of the country’s gold production. “These small, family-owned businesses have informal relationships with larger purchasers and traders like Mohamed’s Enterprise. Once mined, Guyanese gold is sold and traded throughout international markets, including the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Union,” OFAC had said.

In June 2025, Mohamed launched his political party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), which is one of six parties set to contest the General and Regional Elections on September 1. “Yes, we are concerned. Anytime the US Department of Treasury OFAC sanctioned individual has the potential to become a member of government, that is concerning for us,” Ambassador Theriot said. She made the comment Wednesday, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit being held in Georgetown.

She contended that Mohamed being in government is “problematic in multiple ways.” The ambassador explained that if someone sanctioned by OFAC were to become part of the administration, it would restrict or change how the U.S. government interacts with that government. “We have to be very careful. If that person is involved, let’s say he were on a certain committee, we would have to be very careful in working with that committee. We have to make sure that we didn’t work with him specifically,” she added. Further, she said the situation would likely raise concern among U.S. private sector entities already operating in Guyana or planning to invest.

Ambassador Theriot said, “So you see US companies often rethinking their relationship in the country. We saw it in Afghanistan. We’ve seen it in other countries as well. They sometimes look to de risk, or to even just cut ties with the country…” To this end, she underscored that the U.S. and Guyana are currently in a “beautiful position” due to how welcoming the country has been to American companies. “…and I don’t want, if he [Mohamed] were to become a member of the government that to change,” she noted.

The ambassador’s comments come days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed U.S. diplomats worldwide not to comment on the fairness or integrity of elections conducted by foreign countries, according to an internal note that was seen by Reuters. The news agency said that Rubio’s memo was a significant departure from Washington’s traditional approach of promoting free and fair elections overseas. The order, sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts in a July 17 internal State Department cable, says the Department will no longer issue election-related statements or social media posts from Washington unless there is a “clear and compelling” foreign policy interest. “When it is appropriate to comment on a foreign election, our message should be brief, focused on congratulating the winning candidate and, when appropriate, noting shared foreign policy interests,” said the cable, which was marked as “sensitive” but not classified.

“Messages should avoid opining on the fairness or integrity of an electoral process, its legitimacy, or the democratic values of the country in question,” it said. U.S.  It added that election-related messages should come from either the Secretary himself or the Department spokesperson and it barred U.S. diplomats from issuing such statements without explicit approval from the agency’s senior leadership. The cable referenced President Donald Trump’s May 13 speech in Riyadh when he criticized what he called “Western interventionists” telling Middle Eastern countries how to govern their own affairs, saying that was no longer Washington’s business and it was looking to forge partnerships. “While the United States will hold firm to its own democratic values and celebrate those values when other countries choose a similar path, the President made clear that the United States will pursue partnerships with countries wherever our strategic interests align,” the directive said.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cable, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The United States has traditionally viewed the promotion of human rights and democracy as well as press freedom as a core foreign policy objective, although critics have repeatedly pointed out the double standard Washington has had towards its allies. Under Trump, the administration has increasingly moved away from the promotion of democracy and human rights, largely seeing it as interference in another country’s affairs. For example, it has moved to reshape the State Department’s human rights bureau, which it said had become a platform for “left-wing activists to wage vendettas against ‘anti-woke’ leaders.” Trump officials have repeatedly weighed in on European politics to denounce what they see as suppression of right-wing leaders, including in Romania, Germany and France, accusing European authorities of censoring views such as criticism of immigration in the name of countering disinformation.

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• Azruddin Mohamed, Guyana Elections, Nicole Theriot, OFAC, Private Sector, Santions

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