Govt informs US Congress, int’l partners about APNU/AFC’s “racist rally” in Brooklyn

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has written to the international community including the United States Congress, informing them of a ‘racist’ rally recently held by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition in Brooklyn, New York City.

Several leaders of the Opposition coalition, including Members of Parliament, regional representatives and other party officials, attended an “Anti-PPP Racism March & Rally” that was organised on August 15 by the Guyanese Organizations Against Racism (GOAR). Also attending that rally was US Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.
In a statement on Wednesday, Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira said she has highlighted the “misinformation and race-baiting” advanced by the APNU/AFC coalition at the rally in Brooklyn, in a correspondence to “members of the United States of America Congress, international partners, and the local diplomatic corps”.
The 28-page correspondence, dated August 18, called attention to the findings of the international Election Observer Missions, which validated the PPP/C’s victory at the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, in response to claims by the coalition of an “installed” Government. It also informed the international community of the work the PPP/C Government has done since taking office on August 2, 2020, in response to claims that its actions are discriminatory; and also, of the history of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the leading party in the APNU/AFC coalition and its proclivity to play the race card and stoke divisions in Guyanese society. It noted the latter in response to the race-baiting that was the order of the day at the August 15th event.
“The PNC-dominated APNU/AFC coalition is in tatters. Race is the last desperate thing that they have in opposition to hold onto. This they have used to divide the nation and increase ethnic insecurities at each stage of Guyana’s history for the last 29 years whenever there is a chance, an opportunity for the country and the people to move forward and thrive. Their history of destruction, obstruction, anti-nationalism, and division has not changed,” the Minister outlined in the correspondence.
Teixeira added that the PNC-dominated APNU/AFC coalition continues to peddle these untruths on a daily basis with the objectives of causing division and strife and destabilising the Government’s “Plan for Prosperity”, which, she noted, is rapidly unfolding before Guyanese eyes.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance reminded that, in the face of the wild untruths that are being peddled by the PNC-led APNU+AFC Coalition, it was the then David Granger-led Government that carried out the “most blatant racist policy experienced since the Burnham era” of the 1970s and 1980s.
Outlining some of these policies to the international community, Teixeira pointed to the fact that the Granger Administration fired some 1972 Amerindian (Indigenous) Community Service Officers working in the interior of the country just within one month of taking office in 2015. This one act removed over $700 million from the Amerindian village economies and increased poverty for over 10,000 dependents.
It was highlighted too that Guyana’s Indigenous people, despite owning 14 per cent of the country’s land mass by communal and absolute land rights; based on the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent, the coalition Government did not issue one communal land grant in its five years in office and instead said the Amerindians were “avaricious” and “had too much land”.
The international community were also informed of the 2000 public servants, perceived to be PPP/C supporters that were fired by the then APNU/AFC Administration, who then hired and created a bloated Government sector with 10,000 new employees in the public service, mainly supporters of the APNU/AFC and their families. It was further noted that the then coalition regime discriminated against contractors and businesses, going in favour of their electoral financiers and supporters.
Teixeira detailed, as well, the coalition’s closure within two years of the sugar estates that placed over 7000 sugar workers – majority of whom were Indo-Guyanese – on the breadline and impacted over a quarter of the population and reducing foreign currency earnings for the country.
The bypassing of Local Authorities Councils that were won by the PPP/C in the two Local Government Elections and the then APNU/AFC’s mismanagement and poor policies that saw high and burdensome taxes and 30,000 jobs lost were also outlined, among other things, in the correspondence to the international community.
In addition to the actions of the PNCR-led APNU/AFC Coalition during its term in office, Teixeira further reminded of the coalition’s acts during the March 2020 elections debacle, and since August 2, 2021 – actions that have largely been anti-national and divisive.

Legitimate Govt
“The PPP/C Government, led by President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, is the legitimate Government of the country on behalf of all the people. The international bodies of United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, Organisation of American States, the Caricom and individual nations have recognised the PPP/C as the legitimate Government…the final declaration of results of the March 2, 2020 vote made it clear that Guyanese drew a distinct line in the sand – one that marked the difference between a path of social, economic and political development and a path of regression…the PNC-led APNU+AFC Coalition leadership lost the elections because of its own actions; it has lost the moral authority to lecture anyone on the law, Constitution, and customs and practices, and on race,” the Governance Minister stressed in the 28-page document.
Nevertheless, Teixeira reiterated that the PPP/C Administration remained committed to realising the goal of “One Guyana” and a modern, transformed, developed nation for the benefit of all Guyanese.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Wednesday evening defended the remarks made at the August 15 rally. (G8)