OP-ED: Caribbean Cowardice–When Black Leaders Betray Justice for Profit

In the pages of history, moments of moral clarity have defined the legacies of leaders who dared to stand against oppression. When apartheid gripped South Africa with its iron fist, it wasn’t silence that cracked its foundation, it was global outrage. Nations, civil rights leaders, and communities across continents denounced the regime, isolating it economically and politically until the system buckled under the weight of its own evil. Black leaders from the Caribbean stood tall then, speaking against the inhumanity of apartheid, aligning themselves with justice over commerce.

Yet today, those same Caribbean nations seem to have lost that moral compass when it comes to Guyana. In an era where rhetoric about Pan-Africanism and Black solidarity remains loud, the silence of Caribbean leaders on the plight of African Guyanese is deafening. It’s not just complicity, it’s betrayal.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government in Guyana, under the leadership of Irfaan Ali, has been accused of perpetuating racial discrimination against African Guyanese, systematically sidelining them in economic development, governance, and national discourse. But where is the Caribbean outcry? Where are the voices that once championed the oppressed in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Palestine? Why has the Caribbean leadership grown mute in the face of glaring injustice just miles from their own shores?

Caribbean leaders, many of them Black, have chosen to curry favor with the PPP regime, bending over backwards to stroke President Ali’s ego, all for a slice of Guyana’s booming oil and gas pie. Access to Guyana’s emerging markets has become the golden ticket, and integrity has been the price of admission. They wine and dine with Ali, making hollow speeches about Caribbean unity, all while ignoring the festering racial divide that threatens Guyana’s social fabric.

These leaders aren’t naïve. They know who they’re dealing with. Irfaan Ali, a man who has been accused of rampant nepotism, has cultivated a regime that benefits a select few while sidelining entire communities—particularly African Guyanese. His government has been called out for its opaque dealings, its manipulation of national resources, and its blatant disregard for equitable governance. Yet, instead of calling this out, Caribbean leaders have become his enablers.

History teaches us the danger of this kind of willful blindness. When the international community ignored the early warnings of Rwanda’s impending genocide, the result was catastrophic. When world leaders turned a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, thousands paid with their lives. Injustice thrives not just because of the actions of tyrants but because of the silence of those who know better.

And it’s not just African Guyanese who suffer under such regimes. When governments prioritize racial favoritism and crony capitalism over fairness and accountability, entire nations destabilize. Look no further than Venezuela, a country rich in oil yet crippled by corruption and inequality. Or Haiti, where decades of foreign interference, domestic corruption, and racialized neglect have left the nation perpetually in crisis. Guyana risks a similar fate if its leaders, and the region, fail to course-correct.

Caribbean leaders should remember: alliances built on moral bankruptcy are fragile. When you cozy up to governments that suppress one group for the benefit of another, you don’t just betray the oppressed, you endanger the entire region. Discontent festers, democracy erodes, and eventually, the fallout crosses borders.

The Caribbean once stood on the right side of history, fiercely opposing apartheid and colonialism, championing freedom fighters, and rejecting imperialist puppets. It is shameful that today, those same leaders, descendants of enslaved Africans and revolutionaries, have become the silent partners of injustice in Guyana.

If they don’t find their voices now, when Guyana implodes under the weight of its own inequities, they will have no one to blame but themselves. Silence, after all, is never neutral. In the face of injustice, it’s a choice, a choice to side with the oppressor.

The Caribbean can and must do better. But first, its leaders need to remember what justice actually means.