Nothing can come between

May 22, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

“Nothing can come, nothing can come

Nothing can come between us…”

(Kaieteur News) – Those words are from British singer Sade’s 1988 song of the same name. It wasn’t her doing the honours in Guyana. Greet, Mr. Jacob Helsberg, U.S. Undersecretary of Economic Affairs. Trust the Americans to send a spin doctor to sell the splendour of the Guyana-Exxon relationship. He spoke of not seeing any daylight between Guyana’s Pres. Ali and Exxon’s resident Guyana warlord, Mr. Routledge. I’m not a suspicious type, but when no daylight can pass between any two persons, what could be going on? Grab a hold of what follows.

I hear echoes from the Ali-Routledge duet singing to each other, while looking deeply into each other’s eyes, shades of that great American soul balladeer, Percy Sledge: ‘let me love you in my warm and tender love.’ Nothing antiseptic there; but sizzling from the burn of the romantic. If this much-extolled relationship wasn’t so open, it risked prompting speculation about what happens in the dark, where all bets are off. It’s what has been disastrous for rank-and-file Guyanese. No renegotiation, no improvement in their condition. I continue with Excellency Helsberg and his song-and-dance.

Dispatched by Washington, he reported not seeing any daylight between Ali and Routledge. Funny, me too. He is on the money, which explains why so many Guyanese are out of money, left to scramble for a penny. Locals have their own equivalent for Mr. Helberg’s fusion of the solar and physical to describe the Ali-Routledge cheek-to-cheek waltz. Try this: ‘dem suh close that breeze caan pass between dem.’ Neither the undersecretary nor the US Embassy should need subtitles. It explains why Guyana’s Ali doesn’t want to hear a syllable about renegotiation, while Mr. Routledge, the other voice in that choir, refuses to have it uttered in his presence. Put differently, renegotiating the Exxon contract must never pass the lips of these two mutually admiring dance partners.

Bluntly, Mr. Helsberg came with a warning in very veiled language. It was more for Guyana’s headman than Exxon’s own. He hates renegotiation; therefore, he’s ruled out. The word from Washington, as delivered by the well-prepped Helsberg to Dr. Ali was: the vibes are so positive, the flames are so warm, between he and Mr. Routledge, there’s no need to do the unthinkable, initiate the unnecessary, (speak of contract renegotiation) and spoil a great love affair, and send it crashing on the rocks. Pres. Ali is so much in love with Exxon, and how well it has put up with him that, poor fellow, he would grab at that as an endorsement of his sanctity of contract lifeboat. Sanctity of contract has become such a lifeboat for Pres. Ali that he can think of nothing else to bail himself out of what he promised to renegotiate. Recall, my fellow citizens the one who said this: ‘Guyana got the wrong end of the stick.’ It wasn’t me, folks. Lock, stock, and barrel, those words belong to Pres. Ali. He proudly claimed ownership of them before. Today, he disowns them rather sickeningly, even quite contentedly.

Thus, it makes sense for America to dispatch bigshot Jacob Helsberg to brace Guyana’s Ali and slide around media inquiries about contract renegotiation. Irfaan Ali is America’s guy. Irfaan Ali is Exxon’s guy. Irfaan Ali is Routledge’s tango guy. They know the moves, hum the tunes: ‘sanctity of contract. Nothing can come between us.’ I dismiss sanctity of contract as leprous and gaseous. When Ali and Routledge embrace so lovingly that the man from DC can’t see any daylight between them, Guyanese are left with one role. Passive bystanders while their wealth is drained away. Their brave general embraces, then dances with, Exxon’s Routledge, while they are shoeless, foodless, near homeless, and hopeless.

(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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ExxonMobil, GHK Lall, Jacob Helsberg, renegotiation

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