Mangal Threatened with $215M Libel Sue for Statements on Robert Persaud

– int’l lawyers say he must apologize or face the Court
– throw responsibility of Canje and Kaieteur block awards into former President Ramotar’s lap

Former Presidential Advisor on Petroleum, Dr. Jan Mangal has been asked to apologize for making “false and defamatory statements” against Former Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud concerning the awarding of oil blocks, or face the penalty of being dragged before the Court.

In a letter dated October 7, 2020, Founding Partner of the London House Chambers of Attorneys, Devindra Kissoon wrote to Mangal notifying him that they were retained by Persaud, the current Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to address the legal repercussions of his statements.

According to Kissoon, the comments of Dr. Mangal are based on the false premise that Persaud actively and intentionally awarded oil blocks to companies in an illegal manner, essentially ‘gifting’ the Kaieteur and Canje oil blocks to local companies under fraudulent and illegal means. He said that all such allegations are untrue, offensive, and defamatory. Dr. Mangal made such statements on social media and numerous times to the media.

“Your statements have impacted Mr. Persaud personally and professionally by damaging his credibility, causing much distress and damage. Even more egregious is the fact that you have been on a repeated campaign over the last 5 years to defame Mr. Persaud when in fact, you would have been aware that it was the then President of Guyana, as the Minister of Petroleum, and not Mr. Persaud, who had awarded the said oil blocks in 2015,” the Attorney stated.

“We therefore write to request an immediate retraction of these articles and publications, and for an apology to be issued, failing which we shall have no choice but to commence suit for the significant injury that Mr. Persaud has and continues to suffer, in an amount to be determined at trial, but not less than US$1,000,000.00 (G$215,000,000.00).”

Back in 2019, pressure was mounted on the leadership of the PPP/C to address the issuance of Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) for key oil blocks to reportedly inexperienced operators in 2015. These blocks, the Kaieteur and Canje, were basically “given away” as considered by petroleum experts, including Mangal.

The State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) had launched a probe in 2019 into the awarding of these blocks by former President Ramotar who has claimed that he had no knowledge that Guyana had oil before the Blocks were awarded. Portions of the blocks were awarded to junior exploration companies with reportedly limited knowledge in deepwater exploration.

Though throwing the blame of the awarding of the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks into the lap of former President, Donald Ramotar, Kissoon said that the famed Global Witness report states that there was no breach of process, illegality, or wrongdoing in the granting of PPLs for the Kaieteur and Canje offshore Blocks of which Mangal was privy.

He also pointed out that Mangal should have known that applications were being processed by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) since 2012/2013 and Persaud was not involved in the review of the said applications or any technical processes. Furthermore, the Attorney said that the delay in granting the awards was as a result of the acts of aggression of Venezuela.

The Attorney included a list of 28 articles or interviews published by the Stabroek News, Kaieteur News, Bloomberg, and on LinkedIn and Youtube in which Mangal spoke negatively of Persaud and the awarding of the oil blocks. Meanwhile, they cited 25 of his Facebook posts and 36 of his Twitter posts.

Kissoon said that Mangal’s actions caused his client “embarrassment and emotional distress”. He said that Persaud is prepared to pursue all remedies available pursuant to the provisions of the Defamation Act and the common law.

He stated in the letter: “…damages caused by your defamatory statements in the amount of at least US$2,000,000.00 (G$430,000,000.00), plus costs and attorneys’ fees which could well exceed US$100,000 (G$21,500,000), unless you immediately retract your statements and withdraw your publications and republications, and issue an apology as mutually agreed, which is to be published with the same prominence and frequency as the articles.”