The WIN New York Chapter wishes to correct the misleading portrayal of attendance at President Irfaan Ali’s September 24 engagement at the Jericho Palace Banquet Hall in Queens Village.
A subsequent report carried the headline “Thousands turn out to meet Ali in NY” and cited an estimate from commentator Vishnu Bisram that approximately 2,000 persons were outside the venue.
That estimate is simply incorrect. It does not reflect what WIN NYC members witnessed on the ground and contradicts the accounts published immediately after the event.
The Government of Guyana’s own Department of Public Information reported that “Hundreds of Guyanese turned out” in Queens Village. iNews Guyana likewise reported “Hundreds of Guyanese.” News Room Guyana said President Ali addressed “hundreds of Guyanese,” while HGP Nightly News reported that “hundreds attended.”
How, then, did “hundreds” suddenly become “thousands”?
WIN NYC was not relying on photographs, second-hand accounts or estimates from Guyana. We were physically present.
Earlier that day, our members and supporters protested outside the United Nations while President Ali delivered Guyana’s address to the General Assembly. We were there to draw attention to concerns about corruption and accountability, poverty and the high cost of living, democracy and human rights, the independence of national institutions, the MV Barima tragedy and what WIN maintains is the political persecution of elected Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.
The contrast was striking. From the podium of the United Nations, President Ali spoke about inequality, accountability, the rule of law and a world in which “law restrains power.” Outside, Guyanese were demanding that those same principles be respected and applied consistently at home.
Later that evening, WIN NYC was again present outside Jericho Palace for the President’s advertised “meet and greet.”
There were certainly supporters of the President present, and WIN NYC does not dispute that the event was well attended. But the photographs and subsequent portrayal do not tell the whole story.
The engagement was advertised for 7:00 p.m., yet President Ali arrived considerably later. People accumulated during that extended wait, and photographs taken after the crowd had built cannot establish how many unique individuals attended.
More importantly, some of the very people who had come to see the President had serious questions for him.
WIN NYC members spoke with Guyanese waiting outside who expressed concerns of their own. Inside, members of the diaspora questioned the President about the MV Barima tragedy, corruption and accountability, his farm, healthcare and conditions in Guyana. Some interrupted him, some heckled him, while others listened quietly. There was noticeable dissatisfaction among some attendees that deserves to be acknowledged alongside the images of his supporters.
The concerns we heard were practical as much as political.
Guyanese living abroad want to know whether returning home means reliable clean water and electricity, safe communities and healthcare they can trust. They want to conduct ordinary business without processes that take minutes in the United States becoming months of delays, repeated visits and additional trips to Guyana.
They want to know that their employment, licences, banking relationships and opportunities will not be affected by whom they associate with or politically support. They want independent institutions, a professional police force, an independent judiciary, respect for human rights and transparent investigations into credible allegations of corruption, followed by accountability where wrongdoing is established.
And they want the truth about the MV Barima.
That is why “RAISE THE BOAT” was a central message of our protests: recover the vessel, preserve the evidence, establish what happened, determine responsibility through a credible process and properly support and compensate the affected families.
President Ali spoke extensively about kilometres of roads, schools, hospitals, jobs and development projects. But development cannot be measured simply by infrastructure and announcements. Guyanese are entitled to ask what the country’s unprecedented development spending and borrowing have produced in their everyday lives.
Are basic services reliable? Is healthcare improving? Are communities safer? Are institutions functioning efficiently and independently? Is the extraordinary growth of Guyana’s economy translating into a better quality of life for ordinary people?
These questions are particularly relevant when the diaspora is being encouraged to return, invest and participate in Guyana’s development.
September 24 therefore told a much more important story than the size of a crowd.
It showed Guyanese willing to ask difficult questions about the MV Barima, corruption and accountability, healthcare, public services, governance and the direction of their country.
Those voices deserve the same attention as carefully framed photographs of a couple hundred persons packed tightly into a cramped room.
WIN New York Chapter
