The world around us

Oct 08, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

To many Guyanese, Guyana is their world, not the world ‘out there.’ People feel content with their existence, nothing must spoil it.

The raging wars between Russia and Ukraine or between Israel and Hamas are of little or no concern to them. The thought of a war with Venezuela would be more of a passing rather than a pre-occupational one. The stories told by older folk to the Guyanese Gen Z about the Second World War as well as speeches at the cenotaph and on Remembrance Day would be either hard to believe or that they don’t care about what happened sixty-six years ago.

Nowadays, the Guyanese working class man and woman pay more attention to the hassles of daily of life, the cost-of-living, family, their jobs, bills, school and lunch kits for kids, health care issues including diabetes, obesity and stress. These peculiarities notwithstanding, there is one consolation, American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote; ‘Although individuals are naturally self-interested, they also possess a remarkable ability to consider interests other than their own’.

To many Guyanese, war is viewed as something remote, an abstract occurrence in far away in places with strange sounding names. It was only when the escalation of tension and threats to Guyana by Venezuela began to heat up in late 2023 that Guyanese became conscious of the real possibility of a war between Guyana and Venezuela.

Since the matter has gone before the ICJ, a period of marking time, wait and see has crept up upon us. And though the possibility of a war between Guyana and Venezuela, is not imminent at this point in time, we should keep in mind that ‘when America sneezes the Caribbean catches a cold’. Under such conditions, a ring-fenced Guyana, secure from collateral damages because of a war between America and Venezuela is fraught with uncertainty.

.Meanwhile, the peace and friendship with and solidarity we currently enjoy from nations around the world is tenuous and precarious; it could, hopefully not, prove temporary. Guyanese who follow world news would know that anger, because of persistent threats and unprovoked acts of aggression as well as trading of harsh language across borders can result in the heightening of tension in contrast to peace, which like a two-edged sword, can be used to either save or destroy peace.

Has this world gone crazy? From all indications it has, from the rise of a horrendous campaign against immigrants, to the imposition of oppressive tariffs as barriers to trade, the human tragedies and chaos resulting from genocide in Gaza; Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the revival of gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean and unhappy endings such as the killing of Charlie Kirk. Yes, the world today is indeed a terrifying, uncertain place.

It is against this backdrop, that little or no attention is paid by Guyanese mainstream media, podcasters, social media outlets, letter writers or by official circles to the possibility of major wars breaking out in Asia, the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula in Europe and in our own Caribbean. The occasional ‘project syndicate’ features published in mainstream media and editorials will not suffice. More should be done to bring a greater degree of awareness to and involvement of the public in the debate on war and peace.

None can deny the unique threat posed by nuclear missiles, the monstrosity of ongoing genocides, the dying species on our increasingly fragile planet, and the calamitous backwards steps we are taking that will surely take our collective lives.

Overwhelmed by this worrisome state of affairs, the vast majority of world leaders in their addresses at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly exasperatedly called out for peace and pledged not to give up on peace nor the UN Charter. The challenge now is, can that vast majority of UN members use their collective will to make the Charter work for lasting world peace and international security!

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Clement J. Rohee, Foreign Affairs, Guyana, Guyanese, Letters, world

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