The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has joined other diaspora groups to demand that the United States Government investigate allegations of rampant racial discrimination in Guyana. CGID has written to the leadership of the United States Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the White House, requesting an official United States fact finding mission to Guyana to investigate complaints of racism, and political marginalisation of Blacks and other opposition supporters.
In the letter seen by Village Voice News, the grouping has made known they “vehemently object to the use of US taxpayers’ dollars to fund this loan and consequently also strenuously object to the approval of this loan by the Biden Administration. Approving such a loan without conditions that promote inclusive growth, equitable governance and inclusive democracy is antithetical to US values.” The group is therefore calling for a deferral of the loan pending an investigation into the racist practices of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government.
Guyana is seeking to borrow US$646 million from the U.S Exim Bank for the Gas to Energy OffShore Pipeline Project. The project posting date is March 20, 2023. The loan is still pending per the Bank’s website. Refer: https://www.e
The groups are demanding the “mission to consult with every facet of the Guyanese society and that groups for consultation must not only be selected by the US Embassy, which some believe has demonstrated bias towards the African Guyanese population and opposition supporters,” and also the rural communities and speak directly with residents.
The full statement follows:
The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has joined other diaspora groups to demand that the United States Government investigate allegations of rampant racial discrimination in Guyana. CGID has written to the leadership of the United States Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and The White House requesting an official United States fact finding mission to Guyana to investigate complaints of racism, and political marginalisation of Blacks and other opposition supporters.
The New York based institute said the mission must also investigate and determine if opposition supporters are victimized, and the PPP government’s use of the Guyana Police Force to intimidate, persecute and trample on the rights of African Guyanese citizens.
Awarding government contracts mostly to East Indians PPP supporters, seizure of African Guyanese lands, use of the Police, Ethnic Relations Commission and Cybercrime laws to suppress free speech rights of African Guyanese, mistreatment of Amerindian communities and citizens, refusal to allocate adequate finances to regions, towns, villages controlled by the opposition, firing of thousands of African Guyanese from government jobs, transnational repression crimes against Guyanese living in the US who speak out against the regime, extrajudicial killings by the PPP regime and the Guyana Police Force, etc, were also listed as matters to be investigated.
The Institute recommended that the team comprise Members of Congress, senior Biden Administration officials as well as U.S Human Rights advocates.
The request came as CGID gears up for a high-level conference on Guyana in Washington DC, in September. The Institute has slammed the Biden Administration for continuing the Trump racist foreign policy in Guyana, which disregards complaints of racist policies and practices by the PPP government and its subjugation of the African Guyanese population.
CGID has requested that the mission be undertaken and a report be submitted to Congress and the Biden Administration before consideration of the PPP government’s application to US Exim Bank for a twelve billion dollar loan to fund its Gas to Shore project. CGID is strongly against the US government’s approval of this loan and contendends that only the East Indian supporters of the regime will benefit from the loan. We believe that the US must impose prerequisites for equitable governance and inclusive growth as conditions for approval and to draw down on the loan.
The Institute has said that Blacks citizens are deliberately shut out from Guyana’s development and from benefiting from Guyana’s oil wealth, by the PPP ethnocracy, and will not benefit from this US taxpayers funded loan. We believe that the regime’s racial violence against blacks, and overt racism and abuse of African Guyanese citizens will lead to a rebellion and a civil war if left unchecked by the international community.
CGID also called for the mission to consult with every facet of the Guyanese society and that groups for consultation must not only be selected by the US Embassy, which some believe has demonstrated bias towards the African Guyanese population and opposition supporters. CGID said the mission must travel to rural communities and speak directly with Guyanese from all walks of life.
Over half of Guyana’s population believes that the Biden Administration’s policies are enabling the PPP regime’s march to establish Guyana as an East Indian apartheid, ethnocratic autocracy in which African Guyanese are second class citizens.
We in the diaspora refuse to accept this state of affairs. CGID is therefore determined to dismantle this racist foreign policy as well as bring an end to PPP racism in Guyana.
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