People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has warned supporters of a sinister plan by political opponents to create a minority PPP/Civic Government in the next parliament, using United States-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed – something that could have far-reaching consequences for Guyana.
Addressing a gathering of over 12,000 supporters at the Party’s East Coast Demerara fundraising dinner held recently at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Jagdeo explained that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Opposition parties are encouraging new forces to split the PPP votes at the upcoming 2025 General and Regional Elections.
“So, APNU and AFC can’t go back to the sugar belt and the rice belt or many parts of the country to campaign. Nobody listens to them. So, people like Azruddin Mohamed now, he can serve that role. They’ve all said that they will work together to bring the PPP below 50 per cent in the Parliament so they can control the Parliament,” the PPP General Secretary cautioned.
The Guyanese businessman is facing sanctions from the US Government for smuggling some 10,000 kilograms of gold out of Guyana between 2019 and 2023, thus avoiding paying more than US$50 million in duty taxes.
Jagdeo, who currently serves as the country’s Vice President, made it clear that the PPP had no hand in the sanctions by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), adding that Government had to protect the country and its people by cutting ties with the Mohamed family as well as halt their commercial activities – something that the businessman has been bitter about and spewing allegations against the PPP.
“It is not the People’s Progressive Party that sanctioned Mohamed, it is the American Government …When he was sanctioned, we had to protect the country. We can’t allow our country to be sanctioned because of one individual. If we didn’t take away the Cambio (licence), then they could’ve put at risk the entire financial system …We’re not gonna protect one individual at the expense of all the people of this country,” Jagdeo asserted.
Nevertheless, Mohamed is now contesting the September 1 polls.
Territorial threats
Describing the election of the US-sanctioned businessman-turned-political aspirant to the presidency as “impossible” and something that could never happen, Jagdeo warned of risks this could pose for the country, especially as it relates to the ongoing border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.
The United States is one of Guyana’s strongest allies in the face of the threats to its sovereign territory by the Nicolás Maduro regime.
“Just imagine if [Mohamed] becomes President, Maduro is sanctioned there and he’s sanctioned here, who would the US Government really support? We’d lose that security that we have on the border. We can’t put our country at risk,” he declared.
Only on Tuesday, President Dr Irfaan Ali expressed similar sentiments, telling reporters that Mohamed’s sanctions threaten these critical diplomatic relationships that Guyana relies on for defence against Venezuela’s territorial claims.
“He is also a threat to our diplomacy and our diplomacy is linked to the defence of our sovereignty and territorial integrity. In those sanctions, the US Government has made it very clear that the US Government or agencies or businesses cannot conduct business with him,” the Head of State noted.
The President was at the time speaking in response to a media report that the Guyana Government hired a lobbyist firm, Continental Strategy LLC, to target the US-sanctioned businessman, who was called a “Maduro puppet” by US Congressman Carlos Gimenez on Monday.
President Ali made it clear that the Government’s hiring of the firm was to do diplomatic work to guarantee that Guyana’s allies were well-informed on any threats posed to the country.
Also on Tuesday, US Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar issued a pointed rebuke of any efforts to derail democratic norms in Guyana, underscoring that sanctioned individuals must not be allowed to threaten the country’s relationship with the US.
International attention
In a Reuters article published on July 14, 2023, it was revealed that the family was under investigation by several US agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security. Citing five sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported that the Mohameds were suspected of smuggling both Colombian cocaine and Venezuelan gold to international markets. Further, an intelligence report referenced in the investigation suggests that they may also be involved in laundering money for drug traffickers and criminal organisations, including sanctioned Russian nationals operating in the region.
Meanwhile, during GS Jagdeo’s address, he expressed full confidence in the Party winning the upcoming polls, but noted that supporters should be mindful of the risks involved this election season.
“We will win the elections, it’s just a matter by how much. We want to win by a landslide,” Jagdeo declared while reminding that the 2015 elections were lost by just about 4000 votes to the APNU/AFC coalition.
In fact, Jagdeo warned about what would happen if the PPP won the presidency but did not control the Parliament.
There was a minority government under the Donald Ramotar Administration from 2011 to 2015 – a term that was cut short and saw the combined parliamentary Opposition voting down budgetary allocations and funding for a series of major transformative projects, thus stymieing economic development.
Jagdeo reminded the gathering, “you remember what happened when we did not control the Parliament in 2011? They cut $90 billion from the Budget – money for education, Amerindian development [and] everything else. So, they want that [again]. They know the PPP will win but they want a hung parliament…”
“So, [come] September 1, we’re winning these elections. But we must not be unmindful about the risks. There are lots of risks because people are trying, through rumours, to split the votes… They were hoping to use him (Mohamed) to split the PPP votes. Listen to the Sherod Duncans and the others, saying ‘we would work with him.’ He had secret meetings with the AFC and others to bring the support to below 50 per cent in the Parliament – they know they can’t win the presidency – to stop the progress in Guyana like in 2011. But we will not allow that to happen, you will not allow that to happen. So, you have to not just be resilient, you have to carry this message back into your communities, wherever you live,” the PPP General Secretary stressed.
Ahead of the September 1, 2025 General and Regional Elections, 22 political parties have indicated their interest in contesting the polls and have since submitted symbols to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) – 19 of which were approved.
Nevertheless, Jagdeo highlighted that more citizens were realising that the future of Guyana is better secured under a PPP Government.
“We’ve been able to reach out to non-traditional supporters of the PPP. We’ve grown strong in the Amerindian communities, in the Afro-Guyanese communities who were kept away from us because of the rumours that we’re a racist party. Now, they’re coming to us, because they see their future, their children’s future will be better secured under the PPP Government, and now people are looking at pure performance rather than how you look to give you a chance at leadership,” GS Jagdeo noted.
