The 60th anniversary of the Nation’s Independence came with the usual ‘friendly country’ greetings …in politics.
Classic Statecraft, they were, with the vetted words, each calculated to color between the political lines and highlight foreign interests.
We know the stock phraseology, molded terms, calibrated tones and declarations of partnership.
And as is typical, they were delivered with the kind of generic distance that implies that we don’t pay attention.
Unsurprisingly, our resident US Consulate got to weigh in; tie its gift bow on a present that’s so unique, it celebrates them more than it celebrates Guyanese, in cascading deliveries to underscore their point.
This Ambassador’s message was not explicitly an Independence message. But, it’s proximity to the nation’s 60th Independence Anniversary and purpose at the 7th Annual 25 influential Leaders Award, made it candidate for analysis.
There’s artful obfuscation and paternalism in the self-congratulation of the gifting; showcasing how their trainees are “building a better Guyana and strengthening the bonds between our nations” . Benign imagery, it is, with the subtle assertion of their influence. Text book.
Before we proceed, though, we genuinely congratulate everyone who has used the chances offered in these shows of gifting. Knowledge acquired is always required.
Now, on to the politics; the highly calculated exercises in political verbiage, largess, and soft power to further foreign policy objectives.
America’s interest in Guyana has evolved dramatically from the 1950’s when the Jagan’s communist leanings gave them political agita. Their current interest is hardly because Guyanese look like the South African Boers or the milky blonde Norwegians Trump espouses as his preferred immigrants.
We can look back at 2020 when Secretary of State, Pompeo, visited Guyana and gave the “our two countries” speech. It was right around the time Marco Rubio told Trump that an invasion of Venezuela would secure the Florida vote. Pompeo’s statements were flagrantly mismatched and misaligned with Trump’s 2018 S-hole country sentiment which he applied specifically to Haiti and African Countries.
But strategic benevolence is the underpinning of diplomacy.
Even with his clumsy use of the language he claims as his first, and his sustained inability to use it with requisite fluency, there is zero chance of Trump’s statement being a faux pas. And, like many of these political alliances that seem to pop up like overnight mushrooms, there is an acrimonious back story that serves as a springboard to this modern-day, manufactured, friendship.
We feasted on the WIKILEAKS cables 6, 9, 10 and the candid descriptions of Jagdeo Luncheon, Roger Khan and the criminal enterprise determined as governance, documented by US Diplomat ,Karen Williams. Ramotar, mentioned in a comparative one liner, made the list by comparing the plight of the women of Gaza and Palestine to a heavier burden than the cross Jesus bore. It was the kind of dramatic parallel that did not comport with political stock phrases prescribed for Western alliances.
We mention these cables as a sliver of the reasons why the current US/Guyana love fest was not even a pipe dream not so long ago.
Cable 10 is openly suspicious of Jagdeo’s jaunt through the United Arab Emirates, Libya and his meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s then supreme leader and America’s then arch nemesis. That Jagdeo, thereafter, signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran for geological surveys, not excluding uranium, increased America’s discomfort with the potential for nuclear weapon development.
The point here is that the constant talk of current friendship between America and the US by politicians and diplomats- now under the 60 year rubric– is neither history nor commonsense.
Like any friendship, there’s, usually, a shared ideology. And we are hard pressed to find that between America and Guyana – from Guyana’s transitions through Colonialism to Cooperative Republicanism.
This ‘60 year’ celebratory message by the Ambassador is evidence for the prosecution.
It reads more like a self-caricature of American partnership than a celebration of Guyana’s independence. In other words, you may be Independent but we keep your engine oiled and your wheels rolling.
That’s not partnership, that’s ‘domain-ship’.
Citing a ledger of gifts and deeds seems like an unsubtle reminder, if not a warning. You are neither Independent nor Republic, folks. You’re beholden. That’s the hegemony Independence and Republicanism was supposed to spare us.
What’s the going rate for the Rulers to concede so much sovereignty to this Super power, we’re wondering?
That can’t be asked without looking back on records like this extract from this US Cable that reveals America’s opinion on the nexus between the PPP Govt, crime and prime criminals. It can’t be contemplated without reaching back to the Ministry Home Affairs and its Minister whose ‘criming’ was record data for the State Dept.
And we can’t forget Ambassador Lynch’s swearing in and ‘joining’ the PPP campaign within days of pledging service to ALL
of Guyana.
There’s this concept of asymmetric diplomacy, we read, that gives a stronger nation power over a weaker one for both good and bad. Panama’s Noriega story shows us how a friend can be reduced to foe. Noriega ran the gamut from highly paid informant ,for America, to its prisoner. The non- profane moral here is ‘don’t fluff with us…we get you going and coming’.
The US State Department holds extensive notes on Guyana’s Noriega-types. With that premise, the PPP seems to be America’s preferred political entity for some asymmetric benefit/reward compensation.
We’ve seen the government under the same PPP, that was admonished to scorn in diplomatic cables, enjoy a distinct set of incentives for a team that fails every American Democracy standard during its tenures.
There was still massive Foreign Direct Investment by America. There was still monetary aid as in Heavily Indebted Poor Country Loan forgiveness by the IMF in which America has veto power. There was still favorable accommodation by IDB in which America is a major stake holder.
Preventing State collapse is the case that they gave it.
These would have been attacks on the proverbial jugular if the US were not playing the long game -we’re thinking. The only English speaking country in South America, America’s back yard, was certainly a plus, is our view. ‘Strategic Interdependence to advance national interests’…is an enduring underlying principle in US Foreign Policy.
That’s why, we’re surmising, they, the ruling Party, were spared for a time such as now.
When oil in Guyana was first contracted it was 1999 and Janet Jagan signed the contract. It was signed with Exxon.
What’s important to note, in the context of ‘a time such as now’, is that Exxon answers to the US Department of Energy and is obligated to follow its policies.
For America, oil is about dominance.
And here’s how that asymmetric diplomacy, we mentioned earlier, could be effected.
Exxon is an American multinational so its operations and capital are subject to US jurisdiction. With that leverage, the US government can mandate operational changes or halt extraction under any of its policy reasons.
And by citing need for any- Emergency Orders and the Defense Production Act, Export Controls and Sanctions, U.S. Regulatory Compliance, Geopolitical Leverage – America can systematically paralyze Guyana’s oil production …its sector to affluence by the ethnic group that enjoys affluence.
Then there is the weaponization against ‘Noriega- types’ that was no secret when Noriega became America’s foe. President George H.W. Bush offered a masterclass in the utilization and effectiveness of America’s policy strangleholds. He maintained the International Emergency Economic Powers Act started by Ronald Reagan which banned US payments to Noriega. His Government froze Panamanian assets in the US. It prohibited the payment of Canal taxes to Panama. It suspended Panama’s sugar export quotas.
Then America invaded Panama December 1989 and Noriega surrendered January 1990.
And just like that, it was the end of an era… the classic proxy trap where foreign dictators confuse usefulness with immunity.
So many morals in this story for the swashbuckling leaders of Guyana. Embassy reports are catalogs for recompense. Don’t color between the lines and they become a financial kill switch. Their express intent is weaponry, legal and moral justification to bring a country to its knees.
With oil pumping and a government with the right combination of political bruises at the helm, there may be an illusion of friendliness. But America’s goodwill is purely transactional. And that’s the point here – for no Guyanese to think that there is a US friendliness that would spare them the Noriega Treatment.
A few more points to note on the continuum of Asymmetric Diplomacy, in the absence of rigorous commentary- any commentary, from the Opposition.
In asymmetric diplomacy, the benefits of a superpower’s “domain-ship” do not distribute evenly. They concentrate at the top, creating a unique array of perks- ‘tailored motivations’, to preserve the diplomatic speak.
There’s explicit endorsement of the Government by America which suggests prestige and protection. Foreign Direct Investments, large scale infra structure loans and aid programs, are a big chunk of incentive…dangled under the noses of politicians documented as susceptible to the scent of corruption.
While projects may be framed as national development, the rulers get to choose the contractors. This allows the channeling of funds to be repaid by tax payers through state aligned enterprises known as politicians friends. That’s why atrocities like this are recorded on the regular. This type of corruption, singularly, strengthens the ruling class.
Then there’s the ‘Regime Survival’ backing that promises to thwart attacks from within and without.
Mentioning this for all the Facebook Warriors calling on Guyanese to pick up arms. ‘From where’, also, underscores the asininity of the suggestion.
Thing is this.
America’s support of a Government with a history of roguery comes at a cost to Guyanese. By supporting a regime it once decried, it is overlooking unemployment, homelessness and poverty for geo- strategic access. Oil and Venezuela rush to mind.
And with the absence of a functional Opposition, as ENSHRINED by the Constitution, crucial government oversight is eliminated. The ruling Party is allowed to prioritize foreign and corporate interests over the dire domestic crises of critical social needs. And these critical social needs, decried by America in other countries like Cuba and Venezuela, are ignored for the convenience of geospace.
It’s more than the hypocrisy of Statecraft. It’s the pompous anticipation of a government cowering to its –America’s– demands because America has the history of power to forcefully remove a nation’s leader when they run afoul of America’s commands.
It’s the Monroe Doctrine which legitimized America’s invasion of Panama, now bastardized to the ‘Donroe’ Doctrine by America’s felonious President, Donald Trump, that is the current Statecraft.
The calculus here is global energy – OIL versus the survival of the poor, unemployed and unhoused…is our opinion.
With the current rulers and the absence of a functional Opposition, the existence of this demographic is merely collateral damage.
And, that in a nut shell, is the sham of Statecraft…the closed loop of convenience reserved for superpowers.
Saying Happy 60th Independence Anniversary registers more like a taunt than a salutation…given the governing arm that’s more servant to America than Guyana and an Opposition that’s more nominal than functional… with its more experienced arm, APNU, flummoxed in discharge of its duties.
So, we won’t say it.
