The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) and the combined Guyanese diaspora organisations in the United States will convene an important conference on Guyana at the National Press Club: 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045, from September 27-28, 2023. The Conference theme is “Promoting Inclusive Governance And Economic Growth, Equal Justice, Social Equality & Sustainable Development For All Guyanese In The Era Of Oil And Gas.” Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee is CGID President, Mr. Rickford Burke.
Keynote address will be delivered by Democratic Leader in the United States House of Representatives, Hon. Hakeem Jeffries, and a high-level Biden Administration official. Jeffries is the highest ranking Democrat in the US Congress. Several individuals and organizations in Guyana and the diaspora will address the conference. Delegates will also brief White House officials, as well as officials from the State Department, Justice Department and FBI and US Exim Bank on the situation in Guyana. Delegates will travel to Capitol Hill to meet with key Members of Congress and US Senators, and there will be a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
Participants and delegates will include Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and other members of the US House of Representatives, US Senators, Officials from the Biden-Harris Administration, leadership of international organizations, Guyanese political leaders, business and civil society leaders in Guyana and Guyanese diaspora leaders and other stakeholders.
This conference is convened amidst concerns by the Guyanese diaspora that US policy on Guyana has not sufficiently promoted American values such as inclusive governance, inclusive growth; equal justice; social equality and sustainable development for all Guyanese. Oil and gas revenues are not used equitably for the benefit and upliftment of all Guyanese. Billions of dollars in Government contracts mostly go to the ethnic supporters of the East Indian led and dominated People’s Progressive Party (PPP) PPP Government; essentially shutting out the African Guyanese population from government contracts, and ensuring the transfer of State wealth to one ethnicity. Endemic Corruption by key Government officials is apparently ignored.
The prevailing view in Guyana and the diaspora is that the US government is unbothered that racial discrimination and racism appear to drive PPP government policies and practices. The Government is aggressively developing into an autocracy and poses a serious threat to democratic rights. Guyana Police Force is being used to target and persecute African Guyanese citizens and other political opponents of the PPP regime. Guyanese Americans in the US who criticize the government are targeted, harassed and made victims of transnational repression crimes by the government of Guyana, which operates no differently from Russia or China in that regard, while the Biden Administration remains silent.
Amidst these overtly despotic tendencies and the emergence of the PPP government as an autocratic ethnocracy, and amid denunciations of these practices by several Members of Congress, including Democratic Leader in the US House of Representatives, Hon. Hakeem Jeffries, as well as other State and local officials in various States, the Biden Administration’s foreign policy on Guyana seems apathetic to these realities and indifferent to the systemic marginaliSation of Blacks.
Guyana has emerged as an important nation – potentially the fifth largest oil producer in the world. This status gives it a role in the global economy. Guyana is also a significant geo-political ally of the US and is important to our national interest. Consequently, promoting political stability as well as equitable growth, equal rights and justice and democratic values is an American imperative.
Burke said the conference aims to bring together Biden Administration officials, Members of Congress, Guyanese national and diaspora leaders and other stakeholders, for a robust and comprehensive dialogue to foster a pragmatic US policy on Guyana that is aligned with American values and international democratic ethos.
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