Dear Editor,
It was with utter dismay and, indeed, complete disgust, that I saw via the media recently, a photograph of an ‘involuntary remigrant’ from the United States to Guyana standing in front of the Caricom Secretariat holding a placard over her head bearing the words “Foreigners stay out of Guyana’s business”.
It is ironic that this person, who was happy to live in North America until she ran afoul with the law, and was deported and who continues to have her progeny live in the United States would wish to display such incivility to our Caricom sisters and brothers and other bilateral partners around the world.
Indeed, it is also disheartening that someone who is employed with the State media, the circumstances of how someone of such ignominy could have secured such a conspicuous media role with a national media entity being another concerning matter, could be allowed to publicly display such crudity, lack of enlightenment and incomprehension.
Primary school pupils are being taught about globalisation and interdependency of countries around the world. How could this woman really believe that Guyana, listed as South America’s third poorest country, could survive on its own? Does she understand what will happen if there are no remittances from abroad, if there is no international support for Guyana as it seeks to obtain from the International Court of Justice a final and binding judgement in the border dispute with Venezuela?
Does she understand the markets and the investment opportunities that would be lost? Can she envision what would happen to Guyanese should we be locked out from accessing finance from international funding agencies such as the World Bank, IMF, CDB and IADB and other international banks? Is it her view that we will be able to produce our own machinery and parts, trucks, cars, clothing and all other forms of imported goods we currently use and consume as citizens? What will happen to our fledgeling tourism industry? And the list goes on.
Guyana’s democratic alliances are the centrepiece of our country’s foreign policy and such reckless displays by a few misguided persons will irreversibly damage Guyana’s future prosperity in addition to being just downright unfair to the rest of the respectable, right-thinking and conscientious citizens of Guyana.
I ask that such foolish thinking and behaviour be immediately stopped and that we let good sense prevail.
Sincerely,
Ravindra Thakur
