By GHK Lall- Six Guyanese protectors of this country’s borders, and its honor, have been injured, two critically. The gunfire attributed to the Syndicato gang of Venezuela does not appear to be random, but premeditated and orchestrated. Either way, six Guyanese were ambushed and wounded, with two severely injured. All Guyanese hearts and prayers should be with them for a full recovery. This gunfire: premeditated private action? Or the more sinister, as in State proxies used, as part of unrelenting efforts to weaken Guyana a little piece per incident?
It is difficult to detect any randomness in this Syndicato attack. Lie in wait, encircle, and let loose. Why would the Syndicato leadership take this fateful step, escalate against the Guyanese State and its symbols? Our soldiers are. For this to occur in the closing hours of the day leaves few options on the table. Very few. In the face, and in the gut. The still bright light of the day stands as testimony.
I discern a proxy war widening, intensifying, against Guyana. Some say a hybrid war, but I quibble not. It is not a time for debate. Definitely, it is not a time for dispute. We have enough of those already. Whether proxy or private enterprise on the part of our neighbors, I use this deplorable development injuring six of our defenders, to call again for that one element and component that continue to elude us. We haven’t seriously tried. We must now. National unity.
National unity beyond lip service. It is obvious that 364 days of any given year are spent mauling each other and bringing down each other. That one lonely day is what is left, what is grabbed, to shout how much we are for this land. Especially when there is crisis. I point no fingers. It’s not the time, and of what benefit would that be to this country and my fellow citizens, considering the circumstances before us?
My point, my call, my hope is that from leaders to those lower down and all the way to the bottom must be of one voice, one heart. That flows from one vision about the kind of Guyana that is needed, that we should have. It must be a collective vision, not forced upon the unwilling, or those feeling unincluded. One authentic national vision where every Guyanese feels that he or she belongs, and that they have a real stake in the present and the promise of this country.
National unity will not come from lip service, no matter how beautifully constructed. Or occasional elevations. National unity will come only from a linking of arms and an ongoing circling of minds. The enemies of Guyanese are not neighboring Guyanese across the yard. Or across the aisle. There is Syndicato. Perhaps, the gang was operating its own business. Then again, it may not have been. Shall there be an official announcement denouncing, distancing from, what took place and resulted in six wounded Guyanese soldiers? It would be a helpful development, has its uses.
The worst thing would be neighbours seemingly preoccupied with other matters. An attack on the arms of a sovereign State is not a trifling matter. One soldier wounded is one part of me (all of us) hurting. Again, I go back to the cry for national unity. As menacing as this year is shaping up to be, due to what could be scheduled for its last quarter, weight of urgency rests on us. We must do our best, overcome every test, to grasp at national unity. I may not share in one blind cent from oil, and it will not matter. For national unity would be a greater reward, the greatest.
National unity is not a part-time endeavour. National unity. its substances, and the whole of its imperatives are bigger than oil. For if we are not of one mind, from a sensible head, then there will forever be the wrangling and quarreling that have characterized its arrival and its continuation. These treasures attract lustful eyes. Isn’t it time that some good sense take hold, prevail? National good sense, that is. The interest from across the Northwestern border is not going to dissipate. My plea, my press, for national unity cannot end, when this latest bloody squall peters out. Blood has been shed. And there is something that must be said. I say it now and loudly.
We can have all the machinery, the modern technology, the best of allies, but when the trumpets sound, it had better be together. Or it will be not at all. I cannot belabor the point enough: bodies and boots moving together. The talk must be walked. We get serious in our lifework for national unity, and on a full-time basis, or the divisive and depleting-indeed, the destructive-savaging of ourselves will go on unabated, and that will be the story of Guyana. All this great wealth; and nothing but ill-health and too much of the ill will that has haunted and hurt. The hope is that every single Guyanese is reading, hearing.
