It would seem that Dr Roger Luncheon could hardly restrain himself from backing Brazil’s great expansion into Guyana and the Caribbean, as reporters were told at a media conference recently. The spokesman claims that the government would provide a stepping stone in Guyana so that powerhouse, Brazil, would be able to access Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean.
Why is the government trying to fool the people? The Takutu Bridge is not a stepping stone but Brazil’s major bridgehead into Guyana. The government cannot seriously claim that it is protecting its porous borders with Brazil, when there is free and uninterrupted movement across Guyana’s borders, which seem to exist only as an imaginary line across the forest.
The Brazilians are virtually in control of the mining sector in the interior as the country’s hidden economy booms, and where the citizens of Guyana are excluded from the economic benefits. There were some 271 licensed operaters in Guyana in 2008, but a further large number of high-tech dredges are said to be in operation by the Brazilians on Guyana’s territory. Most of Guyana’s subsistence miners have to work without the help such advanced, hi-tech equipment. The government seems to be providing the green light for Brazilian mining operations to escalate out of control, and to deliver more lucrative avenues for them to scour and exploit at will.
The massive wealth being extracted from Guyana is siphoned off elsewhere as the hidden, parallel economy is set to grow exponentially. Classed as deprived and a poverty-stricken nation, the yoke will become even tighter around the necks of the people. It will be the rich and powerful Brazilians who will dictate their future in Dr Luncheon’s new vision. If the state of poverty in Brazil is any indication to go by, then Guyana could end with many of its people living in squalid ghettos. A new, powerful class of the rich and mighty will emerge, where social and economic concerns are alien to their ethos.
At the same time Caricom has shown little inclination to promote the best interests of its member states. Barbados has promptly deported 53 Guyanese from her soil following the announcement of their new immigration policy. This sober fact has failed to register with Dr Luncheon, who is claiming to speak on behalf of the rest of the Caribbean including the Barbadians.
The aim of the politicians seems far too remote from the real needs of the people in Guyana. All their grand schemes, if not working against the interest of the people, have brought few benefits to them, except to line the pockets of the politicians. The gold of the Incas may have ended up in Spain, but Guyana’s gold could end up in Brazil.
Yours faithfully,
Mac Mahase
