Dear Editor,
CARICOM and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) were founded on the principles of regional solidarity, democracy, and justice. Yet when these principles were or have been violated in Guyana, the rest of the region was largely silent, offering hardly any solidarity with Guyanese who had to endure authoritarian rule right after independence for 26 consecutive years, a period of authoritarian rule between January 2019 and July 2020 under the coalition, and over the last four years under the PPP. The conduct of both organizations missed a golden opportunity to defend democratic and judicial principles when they were under severe strain, reluctant to uphold democratic and judicial values they profess to share.
Except for a few leaders calling on David Granger to respect the will of voters after the March 2020 attempted rigging of elections, there was silence prior to that and from 2022 till now with PPP victimizing the opposition and critics. CARICOM failed Guyanese during the periods of democratic backsliding when elections were systematically rigged and constitutional as well as human rights violated. And just last Wednesday, the CCJ made a ruling against the Opposition Leader, Azrudeen Mohamed, on his claim of bias when evidence was overwhelming that government engaged in bias against the Mohameds. The government desperately wants to get rid of Azrudeen; he has been exposing corruption.
It is public knowledge that it was the Guyana government that lobbied USA to go after Azrudeen on alleged underreporting of his income. The Americans have had no serious interest to burden themselves with the Mohameds who have not cheated USA of taxes. He is charged in USA for allegedly not pay the right amount of taxes to Guyana government.
The PPP administration has been desperate to rid Guyana of Azrudeen who has posed a serious threat to its continued governance for 2030 elections. Azrudeen has been gaining electoral ground. Before the 2025 elections, the PPP leadership stated publicly that if Azrudeen formed a political party and sought electoral office, they would go after him and his father. Azrudeen declared his intent to run for the presidency. The PPP leadership filed charges against the Mohammeds and lobbied the Americans to levy charges against them for alleged underreporting of income from their businesses to avoid taxes. The Biden Administration charged the Mohameds. Meanwhile, extradition treaty laws were changed to accommodate a speedy extradition request.
Election was called and Azrudeen ran for the Presidency as candidate of WIN. Azrudeen was consistently and mercilessly attacked by the PPP leadership during the elections. Azrudeen won the Opposition Leader’s Position; the government refused to recognize him. An indictment by USA of the Mohameds and request for extradition was quickly signed off by the PPP government. Following pressure from ABCE countries, parliament was called to swear in Members of Parliament three months after the election. The government refused to swear in Azrudeen as Opposition Leader. After further pressure from the Ambassadors of ABCE countries, Azrudeen was sworn in as Opposition Leader. Clearly, there was bias against Azrudeen. The government didn’t want him in parliament or as Opposition Leader. That much was known publicly. CARICOM was silent.
The extradition matter on committal of the Mohameds was heard at the Magistrate Court in front of Judge Judy Lachman. To facilitate the extradition, PPP dropped Guyana’s charges against the Mohameds. The Mohameds charged bias in the extradition hearings. The Magistrate denied their motion of bias to discontinue the hearing. Mohameds challenged the denial of the motion of bias. The High Court and Court of Appeal ruled against the Mohammeds and they sought relief at the CCJ. A hearing was heard in April and judgment delivered on July 29. The CCJ said the charge of bias was not proved and returned the matter for continuation of hearings at the Magistrate Court.
As happened during the periods of authoritarian rule, CARICOM was silent when rights of Azrudeen as an elected MP and as the rightful Opposition Leader Guyanese were violated. CARIDCOM maintained normal relations with Guyanese governments during rights violations. Democratic accountability was sidelined. And the CCJ is continuing in that fold ruling against the Opposition Leader when there is clear evidence of bias against him.
Guyana has come full circle from the 1970s to now. It is recalled that Burnham ran a vindictive dictatorship. Jagdeoism is the new era of Burnhamism. Guyana had a boom in 1970s with sugar and bauxite and now a boom with oil and gold. Burnham squandered money as Irfaan and Jagdeo are doing today. Burnham did projects for self-glorification as Irfaan and Jagdeo are doing. But Burnham didn’t have the kind of unlimited money that the PPP has today. Burnam did not accumulate personal wealth in 25 years the way the PPP leadership has done over the last six years. But isn’t Jagdeo’s personality the same as Burnham? What is CARICOM doing about it? Will CCJ protect our democracy?
Yours truly,
Jerome Blackwell
