AK-47s: Guyanese Must Know More

THE 592 GUARDIAN.♦ ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNALISM

AK-47s: Guyanese Must Know More

JUNE 2026 BY: GHK LALL

A top PPP Govt worker said that the government was always tracking, in the know.  Everything under control.  In hand, a total of 33 AK-47s.  Not toy guns.  Neither air rifles nor water pistols.  But machines of mass destruction.  Yet, the man reassured Guyanese that the government was on the job.  No need to worry.  It’s then that Guyanese must worry.  What don’t they know?  What is their government not telling them?  And why?  To darken the near perfect visibility that one senior government man spoke of, another senior government official weighed in with “our ports are porous.”  Not that Guyana’s borders are porous.  But that “our ports are porous.”

Question One: is this an admission that those local equivalents of nukes entered through ports so open that they might as well be unmanned?  So non-interfering relative to being non-intrusive outposts that they don’t serve as deterrent or prohibition against the entry of machine-guns?  A machine-gun isn’t an unlicensed weapon.  When with civilians, it’s a prohibited weapon.  For good reason.  Think of a squad of men armed to the teeth with machine-guns rolling up before a Guyanese Police Station.  Think of other small companies, three or five of them, with machine-guns primed for action, in one or several opulent communities in Guyana, and with evil intentions.  I pause.  No interest in agitating fellow citizens.  Interested, though, in alerting all to the risks and exposures, and leave others to ponder these questions.

Why is the government so casual?  Behaving as though the discovery of 33 AK-47s is ordinary.  Unworthy of much urgency.  I’m all for not panicking the population.  Definitely against, on the other, minimizing by pooh-pooing the implications of these destructive armaments abounding in Guyana.  From my perspective, the government is too clever.  Its people far too nifty with soothing words.  In the current circumstances, the rawness of potential dangers must be in the public domain.  With the safety and peace of mind of Guyanese at risk, it is time for the chief national security officer of Guyana, Pres Ali, to inform the nation what the government has, where the government stands.  Two hauls totaling 33 AK-47s do not represent routines. 

The firepower and destructive power make it imperative for Pres Ali to give a statement in his own voice about the implications of these two busts, where the clues point.

One thread is the Venezuelan link.  Syndicato or Tren de Aragua?  State-sponsored or mercenaries for hire?  If the latter, then who are their recruiters and paymasters?  If not either of those two, whose interests are jeopardized (or enhanced)?  What restrains the hand of the PPP Govt?  From divulging the full story.  When the interests of the State are under threat, the public must know.  Their safety is intimately wrapped up in such threats.  Thus, Guyanese should know more.  If, however, the interests of the PPP are under siege, then Guyanese will get what they get, which is nothing.  Could this be part of what has produced such easy nonchalance from government leaders on these developments?  When Guyanese are uncomfortable, their government leaders shouldn’t be as comfortable as they have been. 

Relative to the Opposition, it perplexes that its leaders are not all over these arms bust and the ominous potential of them.

Last, there’s a Guyanese connection that flits on and off the radar.  Smooth as silk, and slipperier than an eel.  An oil-coated one.  What to make of that setup that has a long history of engagement.  Usually followed by evasion.  Clearly, that calls for a tremendous amount of muscle.  Lots of pull and plenty of clout.  Groundbreaking and far-reaching, I would say.  There is much more to this machinegun business than meets the eye.  Kamla is coming up next: protecting her people.