Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett last evening called for Guyana to never again be manipulated by foreign forces as she noted that declassified documents have revealed the designs of other nations at work in local and regional affairs.
She was at the time delivering her contribution to the debate on the 2011 national budget before the National Assembly. Her remarks came a day after President Bharrat Jagdeo expressed concern about an unnamed country which has reportedly stated it has a “vested’ stake in the general elections due later this year.
Rodrigues-Birkett stated that Guyana and Venezuela were now in receipt of declassified information that confirms what was already known—the fact that they had been manipulated by external forces to protect their interests. “Mr. Speaker we live in a different era now but we must not underestimate what those policies and machinations have cost us and cost us; remnants can still be found Mr. Speaker, we must vow to never again, all of us, allow any power near or far to manipulate us for the betterment of our nation,” she stated. “There’s a strong will Mr. Speaker by both of our countries that we must not let history dictate our relations now and our future.”
According to the foreign minister, bilateral relations with Caracas are “the best since Guyana gained Indepen-dence.” “We believe, Mr. Speaker, that there is more to be gained when we put our people first as reflected in the multiplicity of cooperation agreements that we are now implementing, including PetroCaribe, the sale of rice, the construction of the homeless shelter and the agriculture projects that are all being implemented right now.”
Relations with Suriname have improved markedly, Rodrigues-Birkett added, noting that the two countries are working to forge an even closer linkage. Three visits at the level of the presidents between the two countries since September resulted in cooperation agreements in health, agriculture, combating crime and IT.
“Mr Speaker, I’m also pleased to say to this honourable House today that the bridging of the Corentyne River is now a priority for both of our countries. Mr. Speaker, discussions have advanced to the extent that we are speaking about the site of the new bridge and we have already perused initial designs. Mr. Speaker, this piece of infrastructure will no doubt see increased movement and understanding between our two peoples and increased trade as we have seen with the Takatu Bridge.
Meanwhile, ties with Brazil remain very good, the minister noted.
“Mr. Speaker, in keeping with our commitment to upgrade our representation in Boa Vista, I would be travelling to Brazil tomorrow (today) to commission the consulate in Boa Vista. And we have appointed a Consul General in the person of Mrs. Leila King. Mr Speaker, apart from ensuring the necessary consular services this would no doubt help to facilitate investment opportunities in Guyana, among many other things that can be achieved. “We have also started working with the Brazilians on the geological mapping of the Guyana/Brazil border,” she added.
An agreement to that effect had been signed at the commissioning of the Takatu Bridge in 2009. The relevant authorities from Brazil and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission are working on the project, which is scheduled to end in April 2012, she revealed. Mean-while, discussions continue with Brazil on hydropower and paving the Linden to Lethem road, with the minister saying that a feasibility study for the latter is to be completed early this year.
“In 2010, there were no threats … to our security and territorial integrity. As a government, as a people and as a state we remain fully cognisant of the claims to our territory that still exist. However, Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow borders to be lines of separation and discord, stunting our development and dividing our people. The commonality that exists now among Guyana, Vene-zuela and Suriname is that we all want a better life for our people and we don’t intend for borders to keep us back,” Rodrigues-Birkett stated
The minister noted that Guyana has also been looking to extend her international ties and has received a request from the Australian government to establish an honorary consulate here which has been approved by the Cabinet. Additionally, Argentina is also to set up an embassy in Georgetown shortly.
Turning her attention locally, Rodrigues-Birkett let rip at the opposition MPs as she defended the government’s policies and programmes, while accusing the opposition of peddling “an alphabet of negativity.”
“’A’ like that appalling now, ‘C’ is corruption, ‘D’ is discrimination. Let me say that we on this side of the House, we cannot stand here and say that every single Guyanese that is performing in one of the office of government and every single Guyanese receiving a service, that every single one of them is not corrupt, no country can do that,” the minister declared.
According to the foreign minister, an examination of the history shows that corruption was there before the PPP/C’s ascension to office and she proceeded to refer to a declassified document from the US State Department, which stated that late President LFS Burnham had sought funds from the US to build the PNC and had been diverting funds from a flour mill for political activities.
The memo, dated June 23, 1969, was addressed to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Charles Meyer from Deputy Director for Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research William C. Truehart and was based on the minutes of a meeting of a body identified as the 303 Committee on June 17, 1969.
According to the document, a Mr. Broe briefed the Committee that Burnham sought a $5000 monthly subsidy for two years “to support his efforts to build his People’s National Congress into an effective, permanently organised political party.”
“He noted that Burnham had twice before built an effective political machinery for election purposes but had let it lapse thereafter. The prime minister’s objective now is to build a permanent party machinery and to make as many inroads as possible into the Indian vote which supports Cheddi Jagan and his PPP, although the latter is admittedly a most difficult undertaking,” the memo stated.
The document pointed out that at the meeting it was reported that Burnham was siphoning money from the flour mill amounting to more than US$28000 annually from sales to finance his political activities. The memo advised that the matter was unavoidably going to become public knowledge and be damaging to Burnham’s position and it was wondered if Burnham could be persuaded to stop this practice if he got the subsidy.
“Mr Broe stated that Burnham could be told that as a condition of his receipt of the $5000 monthly subsidy he would have to stop milking the flour mill. He added that even if Burnham agreed to this condition there was no positive assurance he would comply with it.”
Further, the memo stated, the CIA paper dated May 23, 1969 was approved “subject to the condition being imposed upon Burnham that he cease taking funds from the flour mill sales.”
“It was agreed that Burnham’s progress in using this subsidy to build an effective party machinery would be reviewed at the end of one year to decide whether or not it should be continued for the second year. The Chairman expressed the sense of the Committee that in this review Burnham’s compliance with the above condition would be an important criterion,” the memo concluded.
The information in the document was sourced from the National Security Council’s Intelligence Files from the Guyana Country Files for the period May 23, 1969 to February 6, 1973.
