By GHK Lall- From all indications, Guyana has a de facto president in the corridors of power. It shouldn’t surprise, therefore, that there is also a de facto government in operation. I introduce the USA, the de facto government of Guyana. The facts are the facts, and there is no messing with them. I present.
Public service wrongdoing is identified by the US from afar, with discipline handed down. A permanent secretary is sanctioned. Clearly, the Americans have a fully functional intel (human and systems) network embedded here. The PPP Government furnishes a huge body of evidence, through which to sift, select.
Police Service struggles from heavy blows. Some stopped, now sanctions. It’s the US again. Who’s over local enforcement, the Minister of Home Affairs, the police’s Internal Affairs Department, or the US Department of Justice? I nominate the Americans, because according to the PPP Government, there’s no problem with the police. Problem, what problem?
For all intents and purposes, the drug trafficking and gold smuggling portfolios are now in the good hands of Uncle Sam. More names, more sanctions. An alarming element of the US identification parade is that many of those named are friends, fellow travelers, followers, and favorites of the PPP Government and its leaders. Unsurprising that whenever something has to be done on the drug and gold fronts, the Guyana Government has a conflict of interest, and the US Government is left to do the dirty, thankless jobs. Here are some additional proofs: take away the US reports, actions, and Guyana is a country where the laws and not men rule supreme. Guyana is purer than Caesar’s wife. Poor Calpurnia, she now has stiff competition. The honorable attorney general would be well-advised to hold his peace. Check money laundering and it’s the US, and not Guyana’s central bank, or Financial Intel delivering.
Want to get a glimpse of how the Chinese Connection works in Guyana, and at what heights? Summon VICE News and dispatch it to Guyana. The people from there don’t leave home without two things: an American Express card, and a tape recorder. To edify, VICE News is US in origin and practice.
America’s IRS could be said to be operating in Guyana. To back up this statement, here’s the choice: the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) or the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax bloodhounds. Which one has been in the forefront of fingering tax evaders? All allegedly, of course. And, of course, the Guyana Dept of Justice is waiting on evidence from the US Dept of Justice. Whether it is to share with the team, or for decision-making purposes, that is part of the mystery of clean governance, and ethical leadership. To put on my translator cap, my use of ‘share with the team’ can be given the widest interpretation.
The US Government is so thorough that it has wormed its way into the Guyana Government’s personal management systems and practices. For example, the common practice here (and it is more common than ever seen, and in the local sense of the word) is to rearrange and rotate public servants and police members to new roofs. A new ministry, or a junkyard for government vehicles, is the temp assignment, in the hope that the foul winds out of the US blow over.
The wind velocity out of the US is not letting up, so men get sent on leave. The damn Yankees are all over the place. And should anyone be of the mistaken impression that Guyana’s Office of the President, even the presidency itself, is immune from the uncomfortably reaching and grasping hands of the US, I encourage some rethinking. It was one of the reasons that the newest presidential candidate made his trip to Bridgetown, Barbados, under a special flight arrangement. The US folks could then gather, check out, the quantity and quality of his information reservoir.
If Guyanese are asking themselves about oil and the US, don’t worry, that’s coming up. There’s Alistair Routledge, and he is as good if not better than Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem combined. With AR overseeing oil matters with a firm hand, the US is in control, and BJ and IA and AN are all under the tightest grip. Relative to AN, Guyanese have the luxury of deciding whether the initials apply to the PPP or PNC side of things.
I sum up. Look left, look right. Look high, look low. It’s the same tawdry story. A PPP Government caught in the throes of its corruption cancer (advanced stage 4), and the US Government forced into the roles of herb healer, faith healer, and national rescuer. Remove the interventions and actions of the US, and what do the Guyanese people have? A set of governors who are aiders, abettors, and partakers. Put differently, a crime-plagued PPP Government.
