Dear Editor,
The US Ambassador (October 1) called for joint US-Guyana patrol of the Guyana coastline. The President Irfaan Ali-led Government should quickly embrace this offer, in order to strengthen relations between our two democratic countries. If a treaty was signed during Secretary Pompeo’s visit, President Ali should invoke joint patrols.
US military units should be based in Guyana; it would consolidate support for democracy in Guyana, in light of authoritarian tendencies that were displayed between December 22, 2018 and August 2, 2020; and particularly since March 2 of this year, during that period of defiance against the US’ call for democracy.
Joint patrol of the coast and on the borders would send a strong message to those with designs on Guyana’s territory, and to those who prey on Guyanese fishermen and infiltrate our borders to do narco-trafficking.
Guyana has had a history of fishing boats being attacked by pirates, and victims being relieved of catch, equipment, rations, engines, and even the boats. Several of our fishermen have lost their lives in attacks by pirates.
Just a few days ago, there was a news report of at least one fishing boat being attacked, and those fishermen were reportedly robbed by pirates from Venezuela. Guyana lacks the capacity to patrol and, by extension, protect the coast and deter attacks. The Coast Guards are underequipped and lack technology, skills, manpower, and confidence to take on pirates and drug traffickers.
Also, some of our coast patrols are compromised by drug traffickers, and thus can’t be completely relied on to protect our fishermen and the coastline. Joint patrol with the US would boost confidence and reduce, if not altogether eliminate, issues pertaining to monitoring the coastline. The US would train a set of new, untainted coast guards.
I have long argued for closer relations between Guyana and US in all areas – diplomacy, trade, culture, military, naval, education, technology, geo-strategy, among others. The Guyanese group I belonged to in America advocated that position, which was in direct contrast with other (left wing) Guyanese groups that took an anti-American position. While a few Guyanese jointed the anti-America protest activities in the US, we stood on the pro-America side. We considered it ‘neemakharism’ to accept US hospitality while attacking the US. America has been described as the premier imperialist nation by some left-wing Guyanese; yet, these so-called socialists owned multiple properties and won’t share any with fellow workers.
Many Guyanese were upset that the US installed Burnham and the PNC in office in December 1964 and closed its eye to the establishment of a dictatorship. The US propped it up until Burnham turned against Washington and embraced the Soviet bloc that threatened US security interests in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Although a majority of Guyanese, particularly PPP supporters, were disheartened with the US for installing and supporting Burnham, almost every one of them wanted to settle in America. Only 3% of PPP supporters, as opposed to a third of PNC supporters in a survey, opposed closer links with the US. (PNC supporters are angry with the US for supporting democratic elections that caused their party to lose power).
As the country deteriorated economically amidst the rise of fascism and racism during the 1970s and 1980s, almost every Guyanese (95% in a survey) looked to migrate to the US. The US provided sanctuary to Guyanese at a most difficult time, when the country was experiencing starvation. Hundreds of thousands of Guyanese, including PNC supporters, migrated to the US. Today, there are more Guyanese and their descendants in America than in Guyana.
As a 17-year-old, I enrolled in a college in New York (thanks to the White man for allowing us to get a tertiary education in America). In that era of the 1970s, it was fashionable for youngsters and aspiring intellectuals to gravitate towards the left and embrace socialist ideas. We romanticised radical politics and revolutions against racist authoritarian rulers like Burnham. But as I matured as a university student, and learned from my political studies and independent readings about the failure of left-wing politics and radicalism and the might of the US, pragmatism stepped into my thought and philosophy.
Anyone who studied international relations, realpolitik, US foreign policy, and geo-strategic interests would know that any nation or ruler that is anti-American would experience serious problems in domestic politics and governance. The group I belonged to, which included Rennie Ramracha, Baytoram Ramharack and Vassan Ramracha among others, all of us graduates of international relations and US foreign policy, recognised the importance of close relations between Guyana and USA. More importantly, we recognised the importance of not being anti-America. We knew that to remove the Burnham/Hoyte dictatorships, the opposition had to make the US feel comfortable with security and capitalist interests.
Governments were toppled or destabilised for being anti-America. Governments in Guyana didn’t quite understand the implications of being anti-America or being pro-Soviet Union, and were engineered out of office. Cheddi Jagan was twice victim, and Donald Ramotar was victim in 2015. Ivelaw Griffith, long before he became UG VC, understood the strategic importance of APNU/PNC close links with the US. He chaired an Afro-Guyanese group that authored a scathing strategic interests’ report during the Ramotar administration that assailed the PPP on security compromises against US strategic interests. There was no response from the Ramotar people. The US bought into the Griffith report. Ramotar was creatively ousted from office in May 2015. Griffith became VC. (Griffith has penned another security report in September for a Washington think tank).
The then Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo seems to understand the critical importance of having close relations with the US. He embraced advice and courted America, and it has paid off well. The US supported free and fair elections in Guyana in 2020, resulting in the election of Irfaan Ali as President. Without the US, there would not have been FFE in Guyana in 1992 or 2020. President Irfaan has an opportunity to strengthen relations by accepting the offer of joint US-Guyana patrols on the coastline, and even on the borders with other nations.
Yours truly,
Dr Vishnu Bisram
