Dear Editor,
The Opposition has once again embarked on its treacherous journey to destabilize the duly elected PPP/C Government by any and all means, in order to gain power at any and all cost.
In the beginning, prior to 2015, it was all about corruption, cronyism and marginalization; but since 2020, this has included the Exxon oil contract, the use of a ‘fact finding’ mission from the USA to ‘document’ and ‘validate’ the ‘corruption’, ‘cronyism’ and ‘marginalization’ suffered by Afro-Guyanese at the hands of the PPP/C Government, and lately the Venezuela and Guyana Border issue to falsely claim that the PPP/C has sold out Guyana to the Venezuelan. Nothing is further from the truth, since it is the PPP, since the early sixties, which has categorically denounced this erroneous and despicable claim. But during this time and until now, the PNC used the border controversy to its benefit.
Let’s look at some historical facts. Despite the Protocol of Port of Spain, signed between the UK and Venezuela at Geneva in 1966, which placed a moratorium of the border controversy, Venezuela continued to push its claim for all lands west of the Essequibo River by displaying this on a map. This was taught in schools, and the Venezuelan newspapers clamoured for the return of this land ‘illegally’ occupied by Guyana. Between 1970 and 1980, the PNC Government did little to educate the Guyanese populace; however, it was the PPP, despite limited resources, which educated the Guyanese about the unfounded claim made by Venezuela.
In the May 1981 issue of the Caribbean Contact, it was stated that, ‘The opposition PPP of Dr. Cheddi Jagan has done much in the past to expose the ‘spurious nature’ of Venezuela’s territorial claim to Guyana…’ Since that time, the PPP maintained, as it had done before 1970, that the entire matter could be solved if the Guyana Government took the issue to the United Nations Security Council and the World Court. Eventually this was done in 2018.
It must be recalled that despite the PPP boycotting Parliament after the massively fraudulent 1973 Elections, it still gave ‘critical support’ to show its patriotic duty to stand in defence of Guyana’s territorial integrity. The PPP did not use the border controversy to score cheap political points, but the PNC did that even until today, and even used it to raise millions using the Defense Bonds and denied workers any wage increase. This Defense Bonds fundraiser was meant to ‘purchase’ arms to defend Guyana against Brazil, and not Venezuela.
Then, in his Labour Day speech in 1981, the late Forbes Burnham told workers who were demanding a minimum wage of fourteen dollars a day that “We can discuss the fourteen dollars; we can discuss twenty-one dollars; but right now we have to defend the Essequibo. Let us decide to unite so that we can defend the Essequibo.” He then proceeded to ask the workers to choose “between the fourteen dollars a day and the Essequibo!” Recall that the Coalition attempted to siphon off the $18 million signing bonus, and later said that it would have been used as ‘legal fees’ for the border case. The PNC simply cannot change its modus operandi.
Today, the PPP/C Government is not resorting to blackmailing workers, but it ensures that everyone is given a fair and equitable share of the pie. The working class is far better off now than ever, and this trend will continue as the PPP/C continues to deliver.
It is an indelible part of our annals that the PNC committed numerous acts of treason and treachery, and can be aptly described as the worst traitors this country has ever seen. They used criminal elements in society to terrorise Indians and PPP members and supporters. Indians were beaten, robbed, raped and killed. Since 1992, whenever the PPP won an Election, terror was unleashed on Indian men, women and children. This was a period of ethnic cleansing which must be given the correct label.
Throughout its history, Indians had to present the PNC card as a means of getting jobs, and the National Service was used to deter Indians from attending the University of Guyana, especially females. The Coalition went to work as soon as it got into Government – thousands of perceived PPP supporters became jobless, four estates were closed, and billions siphoned off; taxes became a huge burden on Guyanese; racial discrimination was real, and the list goes on.
Then the Coalition, for five long months, attempted to steal our whole country.
Yet the ‘fact finding mission from the USA was in deep hibernation during the entire period when numerous atrocities were committed against the Indo-Guyanese. They need to know the true nature of the Beast called the PNC.
It must be submitted that this ‘fact finding mission’ came at the wrong time, came to the wrong people, and came to only give support to the destabilization process which the APNU and AFC are embarked on. Today, the Afro and Indo Guyanese are striving earnestly to give meaning and life to the ONE GUYANA mission of this Government, and this group from the USA should have done their homework on what transpired before and after 1992 and the period on the Coalition’s tenure from 2015 to 2020.
Moreover, getting information from staged APNU and AFC interviews will never provide any credible information on the reality of the socio-economic environment as it is. These will simply be fabrications, since the racial discrimination, marginalization, cronyism and corruption the Group wanted to investigate was done during the Coalition’s tenure in Government. They are too late.
The APNU and AFC will never succeed in their destabilization propaganda, Guyanese know the truth, and they had five years to carefully analyze the lies and deceit, the corruption, the mismanagement of the economy and the pauperization of the Guyanese people.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
