Commentator GHK Lall has cautioned against growing hysteria over foreigners in Guyana following Sunday night’s deadly explosion, even as the government announced plans to fast-track a new electronic identification system for non-nationals.
At a police press conference on Tuesday, Minister of Home Affairs Oniedge Walrond said the administration will hasten the implementation of the Electronic- Identification (E-ID) system, noting that foreigners will be given a specific timeframe to come forward and register. She added that those who fail to comply will face sanctions. The announcement came in response to the bomb blast, allegedly carried out by a Venezuelan national, Venezuelan national, Daniel Alexander Ramirez Peodomo, which left six-year-old Soraya Bourne dead and seven others injured.
In his column, titled Guyana’s Foreign Legion – Voters, Offenders, Violators, Lall said foreign nationals “have progressed from prized possessions to developing obsession” and described how the incident has shifted public sentiment. “A bomb that blights a Sunday night changes everything overnight. From votes at the fingertips to menaces to be enrolled, possibly watched,” he wrote.
Lall questioned whether registration drives will be effective in addressing deeper threats, arguing that those intent on harm are unlikely to expose themselves through formal systems. “Can anyone see the vicious bad guys, with malice aforethought inside, putting on a shirt and a smile, and turning up at a registration site? Or the real sophisticated ones, that are part of the foreign legion of Fifth Columnists already deeply enmeshed here, not presenting themselves to obtain the cover of registration, to blend seamlessly into the system?”
He said the tragedy has forced the nation to act but warned against turning suspicion into policy. “I do appeal to my fellow Guyanese—from officials to individuals—that they do not begin to look at every foreign-looking, foreign-sounding, and foreign-behaving (if there is such a creature) as if they represent a mortal threat,” he wrote.
While describing a shift “from official inertia to some level of hysteria,” Lall nevertheless framed the situation as a kind of war. “Well, this is war, however looked at, in whatever form the foundations take, to whatever the objectives are.” He cautioned that registration “will not net the highly trained moles and plants that lurk in ambush,” warning that more attacks could follow. “Then what? Another soft target, a couple more victims, another round of psychological terror?”
Drawing from his experience near the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, Lall said Guyanese are now learning what it feels like to live under the threat of terror. “A young child died, seven others injured, and all Guyanese see shadows, where there aren’t any,” he reflected.
He also questioned whether those in authority would meaningfully address the country’s vulnerabilities. “Nothing is going to change relative to that from the higher elevations, such as Office of the President, similar such offices a notch or two downwards,” he said.
Referencing what he called careless official handling of the issue, Lall wrote, “I am still surprised that Senor Peodomo was so untutored, so cavalier. Perhaps, he loves Guyana that much. It could be also that a statement was being made, which didn’t originate with him.”
Lall ended his piece with a warning against losing perspective amid fear. “I say let us not die in the brain first, then watch the rest of the body wither,” he wrote.
His commentary comes as the government moves to introduce tighter monitoring of foreign nationals and as Guyanese grapple with questions of security, inclusion, and national identity in the wake of the explosion.
