Memo for Messrs. Woods, Routledge -UGGI Survey -Pt III

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Memo for Messrs. Woods, Routledge -UGGI Survey -Pt III

THE 592 GUARDIAN ♦ OPINION

BY: GHK LALL

I’m the bearer of bad news for Mr. Darren Woods and Mr. Alistair Routledge, Exxon’s CEO and Guyana Country Head, respectively.

Wished it were different.  No such luck.  Must disappoint.  I humbly refer them to the University of Guyana Green Institute Survey (UGGI) titled: Trust, Oil, and Building a Better Society.”  The news is the worst that could be expected for foreign oil companies in Guyana.  Due to its oversized height, its muscular presence in Guyana, Exxon stands foremost.  I think “foreign oil companies” is a careful euphemism for Exxon.

Messrs. Woods, Routledge: Guyanese are not inspired by charity.  Bats, hats, apparel, sponsorships, community enhancements, UG monies all qualify as charity.  Cheap charity compared to real richness in a real 50:50 partner.  I believe that Guyanese think, sense, they are being tricked and cheated.  When foreign oil companies rank the lowest (2.50 out of 10) on the UGGI trust barometer in the minds of Guyanese, Exxon is savaged, has close to no standing, must rehabilitate itself.

For Mr. Routledge’s information, the only Guyanese impressed by his billboards are those feeding at Exxon’s trough.  Those swayed by handouts.  Those who live with an inferiority complex.  And those who are comfortable under the yoke of colonizers.

The mistake that Exxon and Mr. Routledge made was to dismiss Guyanese as pushovers.  Indeed, they are some at high elevations who are, and others who would do anything, from selling country to their souls, to be Exxon pushovers.

There are other Guyanese who are insulted by cheap clothing to keep them quiet, and big billboards intended to control their minds.

Mr. Woods, Mr. Routledge: it is my obligation, sirs, to convey that sparkling rhetoric doesn’t sizzle Guyanese hearts.  A first example: ‘partnership with the Guyanese people.’  It falls flat when audit obstinacy, renegotiation resistance, and complete transparency (new oil reserves, access to all areas of Exxon’s offshore ops, accounting records, and 50:50 profit calculation) incite more distrust than comfort.  Where is this partnership spoken about so smoothly?  What does it look like?  Who in Exxon harbors expectations that Guyanese are convinced that their country, their government, shares in a bona fide partnership, one of equals?  The UGGI report on foreign oil companies exposed how poorly they shape up relative to trust.

A second example: it is degrading, infuriating, for Guyanese to hear, Messrs. Woods and Routledge, about benefits for the Guyanese people, thanks to Exxon world-class management of their wealth.

Exxon harvests spectacular profits, season after season, from its “crown jewel” in Guyana, but the Guyanese owners of that same wealth, same crown jewel, live a meager existence.

  Exxon’s profit numbers and Guyana’s Oil Fund inflows do not begin to compare.  Which practical partner, one committed to a fair, straight, partnership, would not agree to ringfencing new projects?  Skirts around genuine 50:50 profit sharing when investments have been paid off, and Guyanese leaders are happy to be tethered to a merry-go-round?  Benefits are not on an equal footing, not fair.  One reason why so many locals are so distrustful of foreign oil companies.  To put brutally, many see caricatures: Ugly American, predator colonizer, ruthless exploiter.  This isn’t to disparage Guyana’s oil partner.  It’s to sound an alarm.

Mr. Woods and Mr. Routledge, when Guyanese observe their leaders slobber about sanctity of contract, grind themselves into putty, and render themselves silly, the source of their impotency traces straight to Exxon.  Their political power, their national leadership strength, hinges on the drivel of sanctity of contract.  It’s why national government ranks almost to the bottom on the UGGI’s trust scale.  Just above foreign oil companies.  The closeness in both earning such low marks from Guyanese on crucial trust could be linked to suspicions of collusion between the two.  Two peas in the same pod.  The incumbent government to retain power, the oil company to prosper to the detriment of Guyanese.  This not only reeks, but it also enrages.

Which citizen of any country is pleased to see national leaders reduced to quivering, bluffing, and bouncing from empty rhetorical stuffing?  The supine character of Guyana’s national government renders it contemptible, coats Exxon with disrepute.  Oil patrimony, democracy and liberty should never be gutted from this state.

Mr. Woods, Mr. Routledge: the game’s up.  The story is out.  Trust in Exxon is tantamount to a dead man walking.  I wish this bitter cup wasn’t mine to drink.

The Return of Sarah Ann Lynch

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THE 592-GUARDIAN OPINION

TRUTH ♦ACCOUNTABILITY♦ INTEGRITY♦

The Return of Sarah Ann Lynch

OPINION BY : GHK LALL

My position was always clear.  Excellency Sarah Ann Lynch, U.S. Ambassador to Guyana during 2019-2024, was more than a Foreign Service professional, more than a political appointment.  What the CIA did to the PPP’s Cheddi Jagan in the 1960s through the combined efforts of the media, trade unions, and nefarious political operators, the agency did with Sarah Ann Lynch in the face of the PNC’s David Granger in 2019-2020.  Now, Excellency Lynch is back.  Political success means economic rewards.  A little scripture may also help to nudge Guyanese in a thoughtful, national direction: what is hidden has a way of coming to light.  Democracy for Guyana, or the paramountcy of U.S. interests, is the choice. 

Excellency Lynch was the one-woman army that was on the move, always moving skillfully, even over to the Office of the then Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.  It was too much, too rich, too unlike the more studied, restrained efforts of diplomats.  Whose orders from the world capital are let local processes stand supreme.  Said differently, be a peacemaker not a warrior envoy.  I recall the late Jimmy Carter in Panama during the reign of Manuel Noreiga. In sum, when the Americans want to be rid of real or imagined threats, the jobs get done.  Sarah Ann Lynch filled that role superbly.  So well, that some Guyanese wanted to make her their new Queen Victoria, i.e., erect a statue in her honor.

Now Sarah the Great is back.  More subdued.  More on the sweet, smiling, side.  But still in the mold of a general on the move, but with new objectives in mind.   That is, very much involved in moving what is in U.S interests along. 

What’s a better vehicle than a trade delegation to manifest such interest, with her as the lead player?  She knows Dr. Jagdeo well.  Dr. Jagdeo knows both Excellency Lynch and how much he and the PPP owe her.  It’s an inspired choice by Washington to send down its diplomat cum best kept secret agent now wearing her new hat of trade envoy.  Both trade leader Lynch and Guyana’s leader Jagdeo know that it’s collection time: the piper has to be paid.  In a word -opportunities.  In two stages: open the door and let in a flood of Americans.  The downside is getting ready to see the Chinese relegated to second chair, a much smaller one that reduces them to a shadow.  Ms. Lynch’s presence is part of a pattern.  Check it out.

 Americans in influential positions have been saying it more often, more openly, now: the U.S. must be closer positioned, enjoy a bigger drag, on the Guyana milking cow.  Recall two Guyanese political patriots, Messrs. Todd and Persaud.  Whether here or in DC, the language is the same.  Security, aviation, technology and, naturally, that codeword for business, investment.  American businesses must get more, and there are no two ways about it.  I don’t have a problem (yet).  The PPP Govt’s problem is how will Dr. Jagdeo serve two masters who each have their own interests, demand priority treatment simultaneously?  The Chinese must be monitoring these incoming U.S. delegations and outgoing Guyanese ones, with alarm.  They didn’t too much for democracy back in 2019-20.  But they have been good for PPP style of business for decades.  How the Guyana’s milking cow is going to be milked by these two elephants remains to be seen.  Recall that the French are also lining up, making their objectives clear (more business here), and the British are singing the same song. 

When all this is aggregated, Pres Ali and Vice President Jagdeo see themselves as investor darlings.  Reality can be a vicious animal.  The foreign legion-Americans, Brits, Chinese, and French (Canada’s gold cup already overflows)-stalk, come to grab.  The PPP Govt has no choice, but to give.  Freely.  Cheaply.  Smilingly.  There was Dr. Jagdeo grinning from ear-to-ear.  His 2019-2020 bargaining partner, Excellency Sarah Lynch, is back in town.  Thus, the world turns.  Remember: Americans only have permanent interests, merely convenient friends.  Marco Rubio could talk cheese.

Appealing to Excellencies Ali, Phillips, Jagdeo: UGGI Report -Pt II

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592 GUARDIAN ♦OPINION♦ TRUTH♦ ACCOUNTABILITY♦ INTEGRITY

Appealing to Excellencies Ali, Phillips, Jagdeo: UGGI Report -Pt II

BY: GHK LALL 

This is a public appeal to every leader and minister in the Government of Guyana.  Excellencies Ali, Phillips, and Jagdeo, and the entire cabinet is included.  In fact, this courtesy is extended to the ruling party’s Central Executive, all voting and nonvoting members.

I regret to inform you that trust in the national government is low.  Quite frankly, and most respectfully, Excellencies and honorable Guyanese, the trust of the Guyanese people for their national government could not be lower.  Please refer to the University of Guyana Green Institute (UGGI) Independence 60 Survey, and the Preliminary Report captioned: “Trust, Oil, and the Society being Built.”  Though the sample is small (134), the area narrow (Region Four), and the age and education spread could be much wider, the finding on trust for the national government is remarkable.

On a scale of 1 to10, with the latter representing great, almost total, trust, national government received a meager 3.72 score.  Not good at all.  It is my belief that an expanded survey would yield close to the same trust score, if not worse.  Shabby and trashy for a country that is frequently in the news globally.

This means, dear leaders and ministers that the visions, mentality, policies, procedures, approaches, standards, and practices of the national government are all in need of a massive overhaul.  It means, honorable gentlemen and ladies, that the Guyanese people are not buying One Guyana nor all Guyana.  Nor that national government is doing the right things.  It means that the ethics of the national government leaves much to be desired.  It means, it must be said, that from the president to the vice presidents to the ministers are viewed mostly distrustfully, found wanting.  Undoubtedly, hardcore national government insiders would have an opposite view.  Namely, that the national government in place today is the most trusted ever.  Those who have benefited immensely and unfairly can be expected, reflexively to scorn what the UGGI Independence 60 Survey found, because their bread has been richly buttered.  I think it would be wise, practical, self-enhancing for the Survey to be absorbed, taken with utmost seriousness, by national government.  With honest intention to do something about what the people think, how they see where national government is.

For the information of Excellencies Ali, Phillips, Jagdeo and all ministers: playing to selected and captive crowds, preaching to the faithful flock has its benefits.  But the utility is limited, and misleading.  For there is more to Guyana, that other side of Guyana.  It is not of those against current national government or wanting others to be the national government.  It is of Guyanese who are seeking substance behind the words, quality leadership from those who hold those positions, and to experience the effects of living in this glorious Oil Republic.

 Try this reality.  My own experience with traditional, diehard, supporters of this national government has been almost overwhelmingly negative.  The negativity begins and ends with distrust.

The lament is that piracies are too much, that accepting responsibility is alien to the culture of national government, that taking genuine action to right the ship of state is yet another trick played on citizens, and that being answerable to the people has distilled to either mocking or ignoring them altogether.  Note: this is not from the UGGI Survey, but from my own encounters with those who trusted enough to vote into national office.

Trust means that someone is seen as dependable, because he or she has delivered, proven true to their promises.  A track record that’s its own best recommendation.  Trust in national government, especially in this time of an unprecedented, unmatched, bonanza, means that its principals are seen as honest, honoring oaths, fighting for the Guyanese people, and not first for what benefits themselves, circle.  No spins; just doing honest things.

 In closing, I wish I could trust the names mentioned and their companions. Most unfortunately, I cannot.  When they prove themselves worthy of all Guyanese, rich and poor, I trust.  Guyana would be a better society.  I am better.  National government is held in high esteem.

 At bottom, citizens make countries, decide on and evaluate national government. Their assessment carries the most weight.  There’s the survey, its findings.  The national government should resolve.  Separately, oil investors can expound freely, smartly, about Guyana’s democracy, and its sweet business environment.  But they themselves are held in the lowest repute by Guyanese. 

Next: trust and foreign oil companies, with Excellencies Woods and Routledge featuring prominently.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘, 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙨.

US Ambassador on Guyana’s Independence

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BY: GHK Lall

I really thought that the script had changed.  I really have to stop making these mistakes.  I erred about America’s regret over its role in changing the history of this country.  What could have been but now can never be known.  US Ambassador, Excellency Nicole D. Theriot, did the honors.  In an OP: Ed piece in Kaieteur News, this is what the now energetic and increasingly vocal American plenipotentiary had to say on Guyana’s Independence Diamond Jubilee: “I am honored to reflect on six decades of friendship, partnership, and shared progress between our two nations.  President Lyndon B. Johnson, welcoming Prime Minister Burnham to the White House just weeks after Guyana’s independence in July 1966, captured the spirit of that moment.”  I am sorry, Excellency, to be the party pooper.  But clinically, this must be dissected, dealt with cards face-up on the table.

President Johnson welcoming Prime Minister Burnham so shortly after Guyana gained Independence was the icing on America’s cake.  Recognition and reward for Guyana holding the line against the spread of communism.  Guyana is not contributing as one more fallen domino in the heat of the Big Power faceoff.  America’s AFL-CIO did its part.  So did America’s CIA and those it cultivated in the local environment to thwart communism’s march.  The PPP was then heart and soul for communism, Marxism, and socialism.  Thus, it lost out on that first battle.  Today, it is proud to count among its own, right up there in the Office of the President, those who were among communism’s (and Jagan’s) vilest enemies.  My word shouldn’t be taken.  The archives are there.

Without giving him any inch than I do, LFS Burnham did what he had to do to cultivate that “friendship and partnership” of which Ambassador Theriot spoke so engagingly, so lushly.  It came at a price, which he wasn’t ready to pay.  Regardless of what was and is still thought of him, there was a line that Mr. Burnham couldn’t and wouldn’t cross.  Not when country and people have to be betrayed and sold down the drain.  He became an enemy.  So, the script was scrubbed.

The PPP of Dr. Jagan first, then Dr. Jagdeo, studied that same script.  In this context, Dr. Ali is of no value, merely a hanger-on, who is in the right place and right time to be a beneficiary, one of the biggest.  Dr. Jagdeo more than Dr. Jagan decided that since the Americans couldn’t be beaten in a head-on fight, then beat them with tricks at their own game.  Become bigger capitalists than the capitalists themselves.  What can be bigger, brighter and more beautiful than “sanctity of contract?”  Now, there’s “friendship and partnership” of the kind that neither Burnham nor Jagan would ever kneel before, come within 100 years of considering, much less approving.  Pres Ali is the one doing the parroting about “sanctity of contract.”  But the credit belongs to Dr. Jagdeo.  When power and its consolidation and retention are part of the equation, then “sanctity of contract” is what it will have to be.

It is fasconating to watch Excellency Theriot manifest some of that famed Louisiana fire, when she lit that Independence bonfire about 60 years of “friendship and partnership.”  To whose advantage, to whose loss?  There is Exxon, redder and whiter and bluer than America.  More Golden Arrowhead nowadays than Guyanese.  Take a bow, Ambassador of Oil, Mr. Alistair Routledge.  With friends and partners of this caliber, I will take my chances with Dr. Guillotin.  It is better to lose my head for standing for what is believed.  It would be a crime inconceivable to join with those who hang themselves by the nuts from their betrayals of people and patrimony.  And for what, but the harlotry of power?  I urge my fellow Guyanese to review what it is that harlots do.  What they surrender.  What they sell.  And to whom they sell.  Those who come and go.  Those who take, then leave.  Whether corporate or country, this is the friendship and partnership between Guyana and America, as I see it, appalled by it, and am sickened by it.  Thanks, Ambassador Theriot for speaking to truth in a funny, most likely unwitting way.

Gail Teixeira speaks: Parliament , Diplomats,Regrets.

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BY: GHK LALL

It’s why I have such regard for the Hon Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Lady Gail Texeira.  For every Guyana wake house situation, she has the right sad song: “Now it’s crying time again….”  Seems she has the dirty job of conveying the disappointment of Pres Ali and Vice President Jagdeo to the meddling diplomatic community.  Disappointment, not disgust.  Or wanting to tear into the likes of Excellencies Luca Antonini and Nicole D. Theriot and give them a piece of the PPP headmen mind.  Comrade Gail is now new and improved: “it is regrettable” has tactful diplomatic tinges plastered.  When used twice, it underlines PPP outrage at being caught with its parliamentary pants down.

According to Minister Texeira, all the ambassadors had to do was ask.  Almost a hundred days with the walls and rafters of Guyana’s parliament shrouded in ghostly silence.  Not a word from Excellency Ali, Speaker (what’s his name, again?), or parliamentarian par excellence, Minister Texeira herself, and diplomats helpful to Guyana’s cause get their knuckles wrapped.  I translate “it is regrettable” for Guyanese and the diplomatic community.

First, the good news: doesn’t qualify as “a feral blast.”  I must differ.  It’s tantamount, however, to this: get thy dirty paws off Guyana’s parliamentary affairs.  Or, know thy place, mind thy manners, and stay the hell out of Guyana’s business.  It’s said that no good deed goes unpunished.  Well, there was the enlightened Gail Texeira taking it upon herself (with the Ali-Jagdeo combo backing) to sock it to the ABCEU people who were only trying to move things along.  The PPP Govt didn’t need the help, since June 5th was already settled in PPP land for the reconvening of parliament.  Note the clever arithmetic, folks: after snatching over three months of this parliament’s life away, the crafty PPP seized another two weeks, a dozen more days, of parliament being as quiet as a graveyard for itself.  There’s soundness of vision, a group of clever politicians using their wits to give Guyanese fits.

Speaking for myself, I extend my own regrets to the venerable, increasingly incomprehensible, Gail Texeira, Duchess of Parliamentary Governance in Guyana.  Those who are fragile, shouldn’t be hostile.  The Guyanese people were patient.  The diplomats that mattered were patient.  Reconvening parliament on June 5th (hopefully, this means in 2026) represents more than 100 days of inaction, incompetence, and intransigence.  It is PPP insipidity, despite its 7-seat majority, and indicative of its impotency.  It still fears.  Still has to hide and dodge and disappear for long stretches.  Dr. Ali failed to answer the call of the bell.  Dr. Jagdeo failed to decide on what new job title fits him best.  And, there is Ms. Gail Texeira, who failed to persuade.  But now looms large and casts an awkward shadow, as Guyana parliamentary master maneuverer.  “It’s regrettable.”

Where was the honorable lady before, a veteran of countless local political skirmishes, now a proven hand at articulating silvery outrage at the resident diplomatic community.  The ABCE people are getting impatient.  The PPP is proving to be an unwanted burden that can only be tolerated for so long.  The PPP has to be helped with elections.  It has to be helped with oil (Excellencies Theriot and Helsberg on renegotiation).  Its people helped to count their toes and comb their hair.  But, when helped with a push to get parliament going, there is Gail ‘Stormy Weather’ Texeira reading her version of a riot act to foreign diplomats.

Who helped parliament to get started after the elections?  Diplomats.  Who has to jump in again and move to restart parliament?  Diplomats.  But there is Excellency Texeira telling the world that June 5th was set moons ago.  It’s regrettable that that PPP memo was filed under ‘SHRED, then DISCARD.’  This is governance for the gods.  By whom, please don’t ask.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘, 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙨.

Broadway now the PPP Govt way

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BY: GHK Lall

Compliments of a stream of articles from the 592Guardian site, it is intriguing how the top dogs in the PPP Govt go about the serious business of leading a troubled nation.  A nation divided.  A nation that boasts of a capital city that turns into an aqueduct when it rains beyond a drizzle.  An inviting blue aqueduct such as a swimming pool would be welcomed.  But not, I think, an aqueduct of darkened waters well-nourished by mud, the overflow of drains, and whatever else garbage strewn roads contribute to the lakes that spring up after any downpour of length and strength.

It rains and PPP headmen come out and fan out.  The headwomen runout in their well-clad in Balenciaga and Este Lauder and Prada ensembles.  Remember the title of that show about Prada, and let it stick.  It rains and there’s a snapshot.  A portrait for Facebook and Guyana’s history books.  Take a close look and see for self: who cares, who’s there, and who shares in sun and rain.  Leaders of a special kind?  Or actors who know their lines and stay within the lines they must walk.  So as not to spoil the fresh, inspiring images of true leadership on exhibition.

What was done before the rains came?  Why do leaders come out and umbrellas go up only when an environmental condition blows up into a crisis?  Like a deluge of rainwaters in GT that leads to floodwaters swirling to the knees and creating broad seas everywhere that the eye can see.  By gum, this is the capital city of a rich, the richest (by some accounts), oil producing nation, six years and counting. 

I recall one leader before.  It should emphasize how much playing acting and role playing have become enmeshed in real-life situations, in leadership practices.  It should expose what calls for answers and actions and not Bollywood or Broadway extravaganzas.  A few years ago, there was the figure of the leader in the pre-sunup hours at the Meadow Bank wharf.  He was all hatted and cloaked (just like around the recent floodwaters).  He was well-umbrellaed (just like the past few days), while a hovering entourage of lackeys and hangers-on were around to complete the feed for government channels to expand their propaganda assaults.  Even prawns were volunteered, painted over, and arrayed in inviting bundles to present a perfect picture.  The lengths that leaders in this country go to sell unreal, unconvincing propaganda.

Propaganda that sells sheen and gloss.  But not the grime of dismal reality.  Propaganda that sells the swept and polished surface.  But not the great, big, ugly, mucky, stinky underbelly of GT and other neglected communities across Guyana that are a disgrace to Guyanese.  Six years of increasing daily oil production.  Six years of major portions of the oil money withdrawn.  Still, six years later, Guyanese must use a capital city where they have to remove their shoes, roll-up their pants, and brave the potholes, the rodents, and the traffic whenever it rains more than a passing shower.  Big government blame li’l government.  City government point a finger right back at Central government.  Citizens stuck in between lift a foot, raise a finger, drop their clothes and moon them both.

In this scene repeated with reasonable frequency, leaders and ministers run out, run around, and roundup the cameramen as though they are making a Cowboy movie.  They are.  Most likely a la Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles.  It might be flood or funeral, dam breakaway or political getaway, and there is a guarantee: a leader, a minister, with a sad face, sadder words, and the saddest spirits ever captured on video.  This is the bull that is sold to Guyanese by leaders and ministers.  This is the Award-winning performances that from leaders to losers (sorry for the duplication) present to citizens, and are allowed to keep repeating the same.  Political acting jobs is the biggest growth sector in Guyana, and offer the richest career opportunities.  When anyone sees a real public servant getting the vital jobs done, please share.  Broadway and Bollywood in action.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 592 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣-𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 , 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙄𝙣 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨.— ✦—

Press Freedom: fears, limitations, more fears

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Press freedom in Guyana is once again in the headlines, the consciousness of Guyanese. It’s time to raise the cudgelsseveral decibels. Now that the World Press
Freedom Index highlights Guyana’s continued slide into disrepute, the call is for another look, more inquiries. I reverse, then come forward.

During his first turn at the wheel, it was Pres Ali who immersed himself in political sanctimonies, while railing against criticism. Naysayers, media protestors,
constitutionally-inspired conscientious objectors and others he deemed undesirable soothsayers all came in for heavy condemnation. In Ali’s telling, he was all for
criticism, but only on the condition that it falls within the perimeters of what he termed ‘constructive criticism.’ I asked then, ask again: by what divine right of
presidents did Excellency Ali seize for himself the moral authority to impinge on what acceptable criticism is, is not, andshould be? To spotlight the president some more,
expose his frailty (his fallacy) longer, by what fig leaf of his imagination, by what token of intellectual gravitas, did he conjure what’s‘constructive criticism?’ And,
what made he, Irfaan Ali (PhD), the sole authority thereto?

Thereafter, the die was cast, hatchets brandished, messages communicated. It was open season on citizens exercising freedom of thought, freedom of belief (political not
religious), freedom of expression, and freedom to express such in every channel in this society, whether private enterprise, or publiclybacked. When State media doors
were slammed harder, sealed tighter, in the face of those who fell into one of Ali’s colorful denunciations, hunting season flourished. Victims bagged,hogtied from
head-to-toe. Though unexpected, it didn’t surprise that a Stabroek News would be visited by the PPP Govt’s Grim Reaper.

First, there were vice presidential railing and ranting about coverage and commentary, though today he seeks cover under the cloud of climate change. Then came the kiss
of death, a Jagdeo special that manifested his totalitarian tendencies, and communistic love for total control: no chopping off of ads. But eliminating, through clever non-
dispersal of tens of millions in ad payments. Was that a scheme that reeks of the Machiavellian, the politically sinister, or what? Meanwhile, there were those

individuals who spoke out being singled out for the PPP Govt’s Saturday Nite Special: a two-by-four to the skull. One captain calling for the constructive; another
far cleverer biding his time, while working feverishly, to deliver his coup de grace: no submission and cooperation, no consideration and no compassion. Said more
colloquially: no money. no love. I am still trying to figure out the legal equation, the constitutional formula, that Minister of Law, Order, and PPP Justice, Mr. Anil
Nandlall, employs as the basis for this overreach, the assassins’excesses. Or why what is demanded for the PPP is denied to others. How could it be that what the PPP
claims as piety for itself is damned as heresy in others. Another for Ali and Nandlall: Stabroek stopped. Now stop social media. Guyanese truckers crying against
impoverishing Chinese invasions.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Ali-Jagdeo-Nandlall government insists that it cherishes press freedom, is a welcoming, comforting, lighthouse to press wanderers,
media shipwrecked, and freedom’s outcasts. It must be recalled that the Third Reich always insisted that the gods were on its side. Some gods those must have been! I
sympathize withExcellency Ali, doctor of overstatement, and heavily overburdened worker. But to give Lords of the Guyana Realm, Jagdeo and Nandlall, a pass, is
asking too much. If they’re ignorant, I help: the deeper the oppression, the stronger the conviction. Conclusion: methinks that those who object to light and truth must be
messengers of darkness, hypocrisies foremost heroes. Thus, press freedom, (freedom itself), falters, fades, in PPP Guyana. if they don’t know, those who labored to narrow
the boundaries of argument and dissent have invariably self-destructed. Press freedoms, other freedoms, are matters of principle; neither leadership luxuries nor
benevolence.