While we fight, the Americans profit

Oct 10, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – In Guyana, nothing is ever just an issue. It is always a weapon. Whether the matter concerns oil, elections, or gold, both sides of the political divide sharpen their talking points like knives and turn on each other.

And so, it is with the latest revelations about alleged gold smuggling, a controversy that, according to the Americans, stretches from 2017 to 2024. This period conveniently spans the governments of both APNU+AFC and the PPP/C.

Predictably, both sides are scrambling to wash their hands clean. The opposition insists that the alleged infractions occurred mostly under the PPP/C’s tenure, while the government points out that the Americans’ timeline begins squarely under APNU+AFC’s watch. Each side is anxious to show the other as corrupt, complicit, or asleep at the wheel. But neither seems interested in asking the one question that should trouble us all: in whose interests are the Americans really acting?

Why, for instance, is Washington suddenly so keen on gold smuggling from Guyana when for years that same gold entered the United States legally and without so much as a raised eyebrow? If the Americans were truly intent on averting gold smuggling out of Guyana, where were their alarms all along? Why did they not share intelligence with successive governments — both the coalition and the current administration—so that the alleged smuggling could be stopped at its source?

No, the sudden moral outrage seems oddly timed. It just so happens that Guyana’s gold exports have shifted. The United States is no longer the top destination. The United Arab Emirates, now the world’s largest gold buyer, has eclipsed them. And suddenly, the Americans have found religion on the issue of gold smuggling. It is hard not to notice the pattern. When Guyana’s gold flowed to American refineries and vaults, Washington didn’t complain. They knew what was happening. For years, individuals hand-carried gold to the United States when only the government had legal authority to export it. The Americans knew but they did not stop it. They didn’t seize the shipments, didn’t detain the couriers, didn’t raise a red flag. It was business as usual.

Only when the PPP/C government liberalized gold exports, allowing private persons to export gold, and the market shifted eastward to the UAE did the United States suddenly rediscover its scruples. The concern, we are told, is about royalties not being paid in Guyana. But since when has the U.S. Treasury cared about Guyana’s lost revenue? The Americans’ concern seems to arise only when their own economic dominance is threatened – when the gold, instead of enriching their refiners and bankers, begins to enrich someone else’s.

We have seen this movie before. Years ago, under a previous PPP/C government, the United States raised alarms about gold smuggling not because they were worried about Guyana’s loss, but because they had issues with the company handling the proceeds of gold sales entering their financial system. Their interest then, as now, was about who controlled the flow of money, not whether Guyana was being shortchanged.

Fast forward to today, and a letter in yesterday’s Stabroek News epitomizes the foolishness that now grips our national debate. It triumphantly cites the seizure of a gold shipment in the United States last June as proof of wrongdoing under the PPP/C’s watch. But there is no evidence that this shipment was smuggled out of Guyana. The U.S. seized it because it was linked to a person sanctioned under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regime. The gold wasn’t seized for being “smuggled” It was seized because, under American law, the assets of sanctioned persons are frozen. In other words, the Americans were protecting their sanctions policy, not Guyana’s integrity. Their concern was about compliance with their regulations, not the sanctity of our export laws. Yet both our major parties are too busy scoring points against each other to notice that while they fight over whose administration was more culpable, the Americans are quietly pursuing their own interests. As they always do.

Instead of blaming each other, both sides should accept that lapses may have occurred under both administrations and take decisive action to prevent future abuse. Reinstating government control over gold exports may be one way to bring order to the sector. But even that will mean little if we continue to allow ourselves to be pawns in a geopolitical contest that has little to do with our welfare. The truth is uncomfortable but clear: the United States is not waging a crusade to protect Guyana’s revenues. They are safeguarding their financial interests, ensuring that global gold flows and the power that comes with them remain within their orbit. The timing of their concern tells the whole story. When the gold came to them, they were silent. When the gold began to go elsewhere, they spoke.

It is a curious form of morality that depends on direction. And so, while Guyanese politicians bicker across the aisle, each accusing the other of treachery, the Americans quietly sit back, holding the gold and writing the rules. It is the oldest lesson in international politics: when two small parties fight among themselves, the stronger power always wins. Until we learn that lesson, we will continue to dig our gold, export our wealth, and argue over scraps—while others count the profits.

(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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• Americans profit, gold, gold smuggling, Guyan oil, Peeping Tom, PPP/C

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