The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government has insinuated the United States-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) President, Rickford Burke is the person behind the U.S legislators, educators, business, legal and civil rights personnel fact-finding team scheduled to be in Guyana from Monday November 13th to Saturday November 18th. This could not be further from the truth.
The team’s present in Guyana is instrumental through civil society and media groups, all based in Guyana. However, in a statement issued Saturday the Government attacked Burke, without merit, and stated they will not be meeting the U.S team based on their attempt to link the team to Burke.
Guyana is politically divided down the middle. The Government has only a one-seat majority in the National Assembly. The Opposition is not insignificant, neither the constituents they represent. And whilst the Government is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the state, it is oversighted by the Opposition at the Executive and Parliamentary branches.
The U.S team is being co-led by Dee Dawkins-Haigler, President President/CEO, Organisation of World Leaders, and Rep John King, of South Carolina. In a statement issued Friday, the team stated the delegation comprises elected officials, business owners, human rights activists, and educational leader, and the purpose of the visit is to engage in constructive dialogue with various leaders, community groups, business owners and Guyanese citizens.
The team expressly stated it is a “Fact Finding Mission: Promoting Bilateral Relations and Addressing Concerns of Discrimination.” The team also made clear it is not a formal U.S government mission, but an independent unbiased fact-finding mission, whose intent is to use insights gained from meetings with the Government, Opposition and other stakeholders in society “to inform and guide discussions with relevant leaders in Congress and the White House upon their return to the United States.” The information confirms the team, even though a non-governmental organisation and not operating on behalf of the U.S government, is not without influence.
However, the Government of Guyana, via its statement on Saturday, stated it “will not be engaging this delegation acting in their private capacities as this is a clear interference in Guyana’s domestic politics with a bias towards the political Opposition in Guyana.”
Government’s refusal to meet the team, whose intention has been made clear, is rude and disrespectful, and confirms a prevailing view in society the PPP government does not care about others or how it treats others.
Burke, who resides in the U.S, continues to make sterling contributions to the development of Guyana and allows Guyanese, home and in the diaspora, to express their concerns via his social media programme and through his access to the political corridors in the U.S. The Government also benefitted from such influence when they met the Congressional Black Caucus at Capitol Hill, last September, leading up the Washington Conference on Guyana that was organised by CGID and others.
Below is the Government’s bellicose reaction to the team’s visit. Note the statement ignores the periods 1955-64, 1992-2015 and 2020- to present when the PPP has been in government.
The full statement follows:-
The Government of Guyana notes from publications on social media that a delegation from the United States of America intends to travel to Guyana on Monday, November 13, 2023 for a “fact finding mission”. This delegation and the intended visit appear to have resulted from a conference organised by Rickford Burke, a Guyanese residing in Brooklyn, New York.
During the month of September, 2023, Burke organised a so-called “Conference on Guyana” in Washington, DC, to which the Government of Guyana was not invited but which was attended by members of the Opposition. This one-sided engagement presented the platform for Opposition Politicians to spew concocted and fabricated narratives about the Government of Guyana, including their usual diatribe about racial discrimination and extra judicial killings, without any fact-checking mechanism and without the Government being afforded a hearing or the facility of a response. It is obvious that these jaundiced, baseless and unfounded narratives of these Opposition Politicians, unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, have influenced this delegation.
Burke is wanted by law enforcement agencies in Guyana for a number of criminal offences for which he is charged, including, extortion of Guyanese businessmen. These charges are pending before Magistrates’ Courts in Guyana. Burke is publicly known for his daily diet of racist rants on social media with the intent of exciting racial hostilities, strife and ethnic violence among the different ethnic groups of Guyana. His inane rantings are invariably directed at the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government.
That Burke’s Facebook Page is the main medium for the dissemination of information regarding this visit, only serves to compound the matter. From the missive disseminated, it is clear that Burke has not only determined the Terms of Reference of this “fact finding mission” but has also essayed the findings of this mission even before it has commenced. This is nothing but a politically driven and orchestrated design by opponents of the Government which seems to have ensnared certain office holders within certain a few States’ Legislature in the US. As a result, the Government of Guyana will not be engaging this delegation acting in their private capacities as this is a clear interference in Guyana’s domestic politics with a bias towards the political Opposition in Guyana.
Any delegation that is interested in a “fact finding mission” of the problems that Guyana and Guyanese have faced historically and in the recent past must enquire into the following:
Fraudulent elections in 1968, 1973, 1980 and 1985;
The massive violations of human rights and freedoms of the people of Guyana during 28 years of dictatorial rule from 1968 to 1992;
The abuse, violence and killing of persons opposed to the Government, including, the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney, a world-renowed historian and a black political leader, and Father Bernard Darke, a Jesuit priest;
The total mismanagement of Guyana’s economy from 1968 to 1992, leaving Guyana as the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, second only to Haiti;
Widespread racial and ethnic discrimination between 1968 and 1992;
Rampant corruption, mismanagement and racial discrimination between 2015 to 2020;
30,000 Guyanese losing jobs between 2015 to 2020; and
Flagrant, multiple attempts to fraudulently alter the results to the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections in the presence of international observers and the diplomatic community.
The above list is not by any means exhaustive, but those are a few broad areas upon which we can commission a fact-finding mission by anyone who is interested in Guyana and its people’s welfare.
