By GHK Lall
Few citizens of this society are honestly stunned about the VICE News revelations involving Guyana’s Vice President, as presented in the previously shadowy Chinese operator named Su, who has created many waves here. Mr. Su was a stranger to most ordinary Guyanese. But that had no meaning with the way things work in this country because he knew the real mover and shaker people, the right leaders in Guyana. More importantly, he had instant name brand recognition by them, with this nation’s top leader, its Vice President, declaring in warm, cheerful terms that he is a friend.
As an endorsement and recommendation, it doesn’t come any better than that, with the Vice President’s signature affectionately affixed. According to our way of life in Guyana, backing from the Vice President is equal to, if not better than, a blessing from Jerusalem, the Twin Cities, and the Ganges, maybe even God himself.
But there is more to the Su story than what is making the rounds. When I peer behind the veil, piece the stories behind this sickly story, the real story of Mr. Su surfaces, and it is not pretty for anybody. It is not pretty for the Vice President who is nothing but a pawn in these rancid developments, a scapegoat made into a fall guy for his hardness of hearing and lack of adjusting. There is a bigger picture which will be addressed later.
It is not pretty for what the real Su story says about Guyanese, which is that the Vice President’s truth seekers get to cast stones at him, which he will weather in time. It is not pretty for the man’s supporters, who could hardly be troubled, or be moved, or look at him any differently. After all, dem PNC peeeple did teef tuh, so wha is de big problem when we bhai mek he haan fast and get he haan dutty. Everybody duz duh dah.’ As for those straddling the political fences, and caught with diluted consciences, it is not pretty for them either, since one has to wonder what it would take to make them think, to generate some positive reaction, posture from them.
Now hear this, which many people are going to have problems with; not with the VP, but with me. But so be it. The Vice President is not the only man with his hands in flagrante delicto (allegedly, naturally). This is regardless of whatever spin is put on the matter, or however consensual the little escapades with Mr. Su end up being presented, and as an example of innocence, false testimony, and entrapment. In sum, it is not as how it looks or sounds, nakedness and all. The fact remains that there are others in our political world, who are in the same leaky, shaky boat as the Vice President.
That is, in his own PPP Government, there are those with friends that they support, as in giving the goodies, save that nobody has turned stool pigeon yet. Similarly, there is someone in the Coalition who is also a blood brother of the Vice President, in that they have friends and relationships like Mr. Su to serve as a go-between and a convenient cushion for them. Truth be told, there may be more than one in the Coalition, just as it is in the PPP Government. This cannot have any positives or be helpful, in the least, for Guyanese, and the future of Guyana.
And now I return to my earlier promise and take this Vice-Presidential trauma outside of Guyana. It involves America. America, the Beautiful; America, it is why I love thee. The Americans worked night and day, fought tooth and nail, to get the Vice President and his handpicked figurehead into the corridors of power. Their assistance was not from the kindness of their loving hearts, but strictly business, vision, strategy. We can cut out all the nonsense about democracy, and let free and fair drop dead right now. Those were the cover stories for what I am pained to remind my fellow Guyanese of again and again: America has no friends, it has only interests. It is high time that we get that into our thick skulls. America does not look kindly upon the expanding presence of the Chinese superpower, and it stop competitor, in this part of its Manifest Destiny territory.
The Americans looked at the Chinese growing by leaps and bounds, and didn’t care for it. Not one bit. They didn’t appreciate the about face involving Taiwan. And now they have acted with determination, skill, and an exercise of frightening power, expansive reach. None is out of bounds, too high up, too compartmentalized or insulated that they can’t be tampered with; particularly when they have a closet full of skeletons. It could be the opening salvo to indicate their determination at showing who is in charge of here, sovereignty and all. It is of who owes and who is owed. And the sooner that the Vice President comes to grips with that reality, the safer he will be.
I will help him a little today, as a favor from one Guyanese friend to another. It doesn’t mean that he has my support; don’t even think about it. But he must get rid of the Chinese. Or to be more realistic, the Vice President must make material moves to minimize their presence and power here. Give them less, squeeze them out, let them join the ranks also, given Guyana’s political contract contexts. The bottom line is nothing but this: the Yankees don’t want the Chinese here. They must go. They must diminish in stature and strength.
This is what I give as a gift to the Vice President, and I seek nothing in return. He can make noise about sovereignty and the rest, but he must come to his senses behind the scenes. Americans don’t care about leadership thieveries. They care about the swarming Chinese presence here, which is why Mr. Su was necessary.
