President Ali is in India – being felicitated by their Government for his achievements as a Person of Indian Origin (PIO). They’ve declared a PIO Day (PBD) since 2003, and have been handing out all sorts of awards to distinguished PIOs. Former Presidents Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar bagged theirs during their incumbencies. Like countries around the world that have large diasporas – China being the top gun – India have recognised the diaspora can contribute immeasurably to their development. Here, again, China set the pace with overseas Chinese from the US, Singapore and elsewhere playing a major role through not only sending remittances, but in high-tech start-ups.
Well, it seems that the PPP’s been paying attention, for, at the PBD, the President actually announced the kernel of his “One Guyana” diaspora policy!! He told the gathering from dozens of countries – that on a per-capita basis, Guyana’s got one of the largest diasporas in the world – some 40% of its citizens living abroad!! We, of course, know this, since it’s the basis for the ongoing skirmishes about a “bloated” voters’ list!! While, numerically, our diaspora pales in comparison with India’s emigres, who clock in at over 25 million, the fact that there are more Guyanese abroad than at home gotta mean something for our development aspirations!!
The President declared, “Our diaspora is integral to the “One Guyana” agenda…. The forging of a strong sense of national identity within the diaspora is therefore central to the model of diaspora relations that we are pursuing… As such, it is necessary, when crafting policies, that we seek to integrate our diaspora into the process of national development. Policies, therefore, should be tailored to make our diasporas integral, rather than incidental to nationhood”!!
Now, the President knows, as well as most of us do, that our diaspora ain’t gonna be returning in droves – save to maybe visit!! Most of them are now geriatrics who’d fled the country Burnham destroyed. And their kids are doing quite fine in their new metropolitan homes, thank you!! His Government had established a Diaspora Unit under the Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Apart from some webinars and meetings in NYC and Toronto, not much has come out of these forays.
So, it appears that the President realises he’ll have to deal with the diaspora from a distance.
“The diaspora possesses the skills and expertise that are needed for the modernisation of our economy. We hope to be able to use ICTs to be able to make greater use of the wealth of skills available within the diaspora, including in providing educational and health services.”
So, guess we’ll just have to import some warm bodies to fill our human resources gaps!!
…for democratic norms
It was very heartening that Caricom quickly took Guyana’s lead to condemn the invasion of Brazil’s institutions of state power by Bolsonaro’s fanatical followers after they’d lost the elections. The vast majority of the rest of Latin America followed suit, and this has been positive for the preservation of democracy right here in dear ole mudda land. They’d done the same for us back in 2020 when the PNC attempted their own more blatant power grab!
The attempted overthrow of the legally-elected Lula Government- following the failed attack on Congress by Trump’s followers – the two largest democracies in this hemisphere – is a signal that we’ve entered a new era. The polarisation among the “factions” in democracies is now so deep that electoral losers read their loss of power not as a temporary setback that can be rectified at the next elections, but as an affront to their very sense of self!!
From this position, they’ll do whatever it takes to regain power. They’re preventing “evil”!!
…for progress
Some believe “we are what we eat”. Maybe that’s true for the physical body, but for success in the world, your Eyewitness believes “we are what we think”.
So, could Opposition leaders please dump their continuous negativity?
