Many people still remember the interview President Irfaan Ali conducted with BBC Hard Talk host, Stephen Sackur, early last year. He made us proud when he refused to let a First World person lecture him. He showed the kind of testicular fortitude that this country had not seen for decades. He brought back memories of Forbes Burnham who refused to let the so-called First World bully this small South American country. Irfaan Ali is no Burnham. He does not have the command of the English language that Burnham had. And he did not have the same command on the world stage. But he was good that day.
But there is this apparent inferiority complex when it comes to Donald Trump. Even before Trump was sworn in for the second time, Guyana, under Irfaan Ali, had erected a huge poster congratulating the United States President. That is why I took note of a social media post that stated that Guyana has agreed to take deportees from the United States. And the conversation is not about Guyanese deportees. It is about deportees from other countries that the United States wants to dump on countries like Guyana.
Trump had announced that he would be sending deportees to Antigua and the Virgin Islands. Both these countries stood up to him. They told him that his proposal was a non-starter. Guyana is a different kettle of fish. According to the social media post, Guyana has agreed to accept these deportees. The post suggests that the figure could be in the thousands.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is on record as saying that this country will accept Guyanese being deported from the United States. He said that these are our people. Of course, still fresh in his memory was the reaction of the United States when Guyana refused its deportees back in the 1990s. The United States instituted a visa ban on government officials and government employees. It did not take long for Guyana to shelve its refusal. There has been no problem since. There was also no repeat of an aircraft from Cayenne simply landing and dropping off deportees on the runway of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport before taking off.
But this time around there is Trump who threatened the David Granger administration and forced a regime change. He later sent his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to hobnob with the PPP. Since then, Guyana is beholden to the United States. Your wish is my command, Sir. So the social media post contends that these deportees would be placed in various parts of the country, including Linden.
There are already Venezuelans in Linden who are actually being supported by the government. The Guyanese people did not know until a reporter made the information public. To add insult to injury, a Minister had the gumption to tell the Lindeners that the Venezuelans were prepared to work for less than the average Guyanese. If there is any truth to the social media post, then the people of Guyana are in serious trouble.
Already the Guyana Police Force is grossly understaffed. It can hardly cope with the local criminal elements. The Venezuelan criminals add to the woes. To compound the situation, the police are not as professional as they should be. They have been politicised. And one man who benefited from the politicization, Calvin Brutus, went public with the directive that came from the political directorate. That directive was for people of a certain ethnic group to be promoted and so have the leadership of the force reflect the ethnic composition of the country.
Taking these deportees would also place great strain on the social services. The country is unable to take care of its senior citizens and the less fortunate. It is unable to curb the high incidence of malnutrition. The watchdog bodies say that malnutrition in Guyana is close to 48 per cent. One report suggests that President Irfaan Ali met with Marco Rubio, the new Secretary of State, and this meeting led to the arrangement for the deportees.
Of course, there would be a promise of payment to Guyana. And anyone knows that when money is waved in the face of Guyana’s leaders any deal could be concluded. It happened with the never-ending reconstruction of the Cheddi Jagan international Airport. The Trump administration is making things even better for the corrupt, and Guyana has many in the government.
Trump has actually ordered the relaxation of the law that prosecutes American companies that bribe Third World governments. So companies like ExxonMobil can actually bribe the government to allow for the commission of breaches of the current agreement with Guyana. The smiles must have emerged on many faces when this announcement was made on Monday.
Dr Vincent Adams had been talking about the Environmental Protection Agency that made laws to control Exxon, and the manner in which ExxonMobil was able to circumvent the controls. He spoke until he became hoarse. Now people in the government with responsibility for oil and gas will get richer to the detriment of the country. There was the Chinese group who went to Office of the President with a paper bag full of cash to consummate a deal.
That became known when the rain caused the bag to rupture. Now, the Americans can do the same with impunity. And that money is not going to help the starving Guyanese. It will facilitate the establishment of more companies to prey on the people. Who can be angry when Dr. Terrence Campbell announced to all who would hear that he would work to see the back of the PPP government.
