A robust debate has been triggered by Guyana’s Local Content Act (the Act) between Guyanese and Trinidad and Tobago business organisations, businesspeople and involving some Guyanese public officials. The debate has had little input from ordinary Guyanese citizens. For example, there has been few, if any, letters in the press from Guyanese expressing outrage against Trinidadians for any reason. However, while the debate is limited to Trinidad’s business practices, trade policies and importance to Guyana as a Caricom member, there is a strong undercurrent in Guyana of resentment against what is believed to be Trinidad’s historically unflattering view of Guyanese due, it has always been believed, to Trinidad’s sense of its own superiority by virtue of its oil wealth as against Guyana’s relative poverty.
Continue reading “THE TRINIDAD CONNECTION”THE US AND GUYANA
The visit of US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Barbara Feinstein, to Guyana, and her wide-ranging discussions, mark an important step in the evolving relations between the US and Guyana. In the past, Guyana was not on the itinerary of high-ranking US officials. Prior to the visit of Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State in 2020, the last visit of a senior official was that of Phillip Habib, US Under Secretary of State, in June 1977 when he said as regards human rights: “This is not, in our view, a problem in Guyana.” The US was then mending a quarrel with the Burnham administration over the terrorist bombing of a Cuban aircraft in October 1976 in which 73 persons, 11 of whom were Guyanese, died. Now expected to play a greater role in Latin America because of the discovery of large petroleum resources, in which US companies are involved, the US interest in Guyana has escalated.
Continue reading “THE US AND GUYANA”AT HOME WITH CHEDDI
In 1991 Vidya Naipaul, the Trinidad born Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, visited Guyana for the second time. He had first come in 1961 and had met Cde Cheddi and Cde Janet. On this second occasion he visited them both again and spoke at length with Cde Cheddi here at his home. This is how he described the scene:
Continue reading “AT HOME WITH CHEDDI”THE SURVIVAL OF RUSSIA AS WE KNOW IT AND THE CONSEQUENCES
The Soviet Union, of which Russia was the dominant part, like the United States, has played an important role in the politics of modern Guyana. Many in Guyana have a residual sympathy for Russia. Some equate that sympathy with positive sentiments for the regime of Vladimir Putin, ignoring the fact that the unmistakable tenor of authoritarian and oligarchical rule that pervade it is contrary to the sentiments that most Guyanese have fought against and now hold dear. Apart from its undemocratic features, President Putin maintains close relations with the most rightwing figures and regimes in Europe that are not only similarly authoritarian in nature but are racist and Islamophobic in practice. But Russia deserves some consideration over and above the nature of its government and the quality of its ruling class and foreign associates. This consideration should not in any way justify or support its devastating war on Ukraine, launched in violation of international law and rightfully condemned worldwide.
Continue reading “THE SURVIVAL OF RUSSIA AS WE KNOW IT AND THE CONSEQUENCES”PRESIDENT CHARGES POLICE TO UP ITS GAME
The theme of the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Annual Police Officers Conference held during last week was “Promoting improvement of public trust and confidence, maintaining safety and security through competence, professionalism and partnership.” Against the background of this theme, President Irfaan Ali urged the GPF to up its game. He told the Police that the Government is going to invest in them so that homes and businesses will become safer places. He promised tools to do the job, the best environment and the best facilities, enhancement of forensic and investigative capacity, improved technology and intensification of regionalization. President Ali gave recognition to the fact that all is not well with the GPF. Thus, he recognized incidents which have brought the GPF into disrepute and hurt its attempt to improve its relations with the public. He expressed the need for interventions to boost public confidence in its work and improve its relations with communities and citizens.
Continue reading “PRESIDENT CHARGES POLICE TO UP ITS GAME”