US Govt ready to work with Guyana – Mike Pompeo tells President Ali

United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a steadfast agitator for democracy in Guyana during the five months of attempted election rigging, has reached out to President Dr Irfaan Ali to extend congratulations and to pledge the support of the US on developmental issues.

This was revealed from the official social media account of Pompeo, where he revealed that he spoke with President Ali on Monday and personally congratulated him on his victory in the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
“Democracy ultimately prevailed in Guyana. The United States stands ready to work with our Guyanese neighbor after this historic transition,” Pompeo announced on his social media account.
Meanwhile, a statement from Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Morgan Ortagus, revealed that Pompeo had told Ali about the desire of the US to work with his Administration on a range of issues including economic prosperity.

“Secretary Pompeo congratulated President Ali on his electoral victory, which reflected a free, fair, credible, and transparent electoral process that respects the rule of law and the will of the Guyanese people.”
“The Secretary added that the United States looks forward to working with Guyana to advance shared values, economic prosperity, and security in the region,” Ortagus said in her statement on Monday.
ABCE diplomats that included US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, UK High Commissioner Greg Quinn, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee and EU Ambassador Fernando Ponz-Canto, were among the first to congratulate President Ali after his swearing-in on August 2.
The community made it clear that much needs to be done by the new Government, in terms of addressing the social and economic needs of the people and pledged their support for Guyana’s future development.
“We look forward to working with President Ali and his Government as it confronts many immediate challenges, including the need to address the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the development needs of Guyana’s people,” the ABCE representatives stated.
“We also look forward to seeing this government at its onset reach across political divisions to united Guyanese of all ethnicities, races and regions, around meaningful progress on constitutional reform and reconciliation. As friends of Guyana, we look forward to working with all to continue to support Guyana’s development for the benefit of all its people.” the envoys added

Besides President Ali and the PPP/C, the diplomats had also extended thanks to all the other parties and observers (domestic and international), as well as Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh who declared Ali the President and initiated the process for him to be sworn in.
It was Justice Singh who persisted despite numerous attempts to undermine her, in ensuring that the certified results of the recount were used to declare the President. The ABCE country representatives, therefore, thanked her for her courage in upholding Guyana’s Constitution.
All four ABCE diplomats have, in fact, played crucial roles in ensuring that democracy prevailed in Guyana. One of the most pivotal moments in the elections was on March 13, when the four diplomats walked out of the tabulation process for District Four at the Region Four command centre in Ashmins building.
At the time, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was using figures that did not correspond with the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in the possession of political party representatives and observers, to tabulate and make a declaration.
Mingo’s figures would have resulted in a win for the APNU/AFC. The diplomats registered their disapproval and non-acceptance of the RO’s conduct by walking out and subsequently issuing a strongly-worded statement alerting Guyana and the world to what was happening.
The rest is history. The lack of credibility in Mingo’s two declarations resulted in then Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and then President David Granger agreeing to a National Recount, which eventually showed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 217,920.
Amid APNU/AFC’s refusal to accept the results, the ABCE countries and other international and regional partners had maintained pressure on the former Government to concede defeat. This was especially the case with the US, which led the way by slapping visa restrictions on a number of senior functionaries who it deemed to be “undermining democracy” in Guyana.