Tweets by US lawmakers a ‘policy position’, not orchestrated – AG

– Dismisses suggestions made by local media

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, has dismissed local media reports that the Government has hired a United States (US) lobbying firm to target sanctioned businessman, Azruddin Mohamed.
The matter became a source of widespread contention after two US policymakers took their concerns to X (formerly known as Twitter) about efforts to undermine freedom and democracy in Guyana, a Department of Public Information news report noted Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar from Florida said the US remains “deeply concerned about efforts to undermine democracy in Guyana”. Similarly, Congressman Carlos Gimenez accused the sanctioned businessman of being a puppet of Venezuela’s sanctioned president, Nicolás Maduro.
“Rather than [the media]…reporting on what the tweet says or what the tweets say… Their focus seems to be on some lobbying company that they are accusing of being paid by the Government of Guyana to prepare these tweets,” Minister Nandlall stated.
Speaking during his weekly televised programme “Issues in the News”, he sharply criticised the local media for bringing the integrity of the two US policymakers into question.
“Are they suggesting that the US congressmen and women are a bunch of rubber stamps? That these people have no integrity? That they have no self-respect? That they will prostitute their position as members of Congress and… publish something that somebody has in their hands and say, ‘Tweet this to Guyana?’” he asked.
He reasoned that the public utterances by the US policymakers must not be taken lightly, saying that the use of social media, especially X (Twitter), has become a widespread and legitimate platform utilised by the Trump administration.
Minister Nandlall reminded his viewers that during the controversial 2020 General and Regional Elections, the US administration was very vocal about its concerns about attempts by the APNU+AFC Coalition in office to undermine the will of the people. Members of the US Congress, senators, and even former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had threatened visa sanctions against complacent officials.
AG Nandlall explained that top-level US officials do not simply echo what is given to them by foreign actors or special interest groups. Rather, they express views shaped by personal investigation, national security briefings and the values they represent.
On June 11, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on one of Guyana’s wealthiest families, Nazar Mohamed (Nazar) and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, and a Guyanese Government official, Mae Thomas.
Based on reports, Azruddin and Mohamed’s enterprise evaded Guyana’s tax on gold exports and defrauded the Guyanese Government of tax revenues by under-declaring their gold exports to Guyanese authorities.
Between 2019 and 2023, Mohamed’s Enterprise omitted more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold from import and export declarations and avoided paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes to the Guyana Government.