Dear Editor,
Mr Bryan Hunt, senior US envoy speaks and Guyanese straighten up, pause long, listen and shake their heads. The Decalogue has been handed over. Praise God! There is unity in the land, if only for a half second; something upon which there can be near universal agreement, no matter how grudging or muted.
It is the exact thing a few persistent locals have been saying for an eternity. The native reaction has always been: So what? What is new? What can be done about it? Who can do anything about it? But the American diplomat utters a phrase or two and Guyanese swoon in the captivity of a rapture. The man is absolutely right. But for a long time now, and from a handful of voices and many directions, there has been the compilation of a veritable Encyclopaedia Guyana on the same issues of much needed constitutional reform and the destructiveness of race-based politics. All of the utterances, writings, declarations, and postures have slumbered untouched on the unreachable shelves of memory and from pure lack of interest and traction. Then Mr Hunt comes along.
He must be thanked for reminding this nation that colonial mentalities and foreign orientation are still deeply entrenched, perhaps irremovably so, with the citizenry of this country. When the exact same things are said by an outsider, they are embraced fervently with all the usual complexes attached. It is understood that the former envoy speaks from a position of prestige and power; it does not come much higher. He is, therefore, worth rapt attention on these most roiling of issues.
Nonetheless, it would be a remission if a sharp irony is not pointed out. Neither Mr Hunt nor his motherland should be given a free pass on the political and social morass existing in this nation, as it relates to pervasive race-based tensions and antagonisms. To be sure, latent race-based differences existed prior to the turbulence of the 1960s. These race-based differences were, however, nurtured and exacerbated to an ugly raging state way back then, and have since taken firm hold. This was stoked, directly and indirectly, by American concerns over a communist lake in its own backyard, and its corresponding efforts at ‘containment.’ Thus, Guyana followed in the wake of 1954 Guatemala and Arbenz; it would be a precursor to Allende and Chile. It is why Mr Hunt’s admonition in this particular regard is found very ironic. Now back to the contexts of his farewell address.
Does this society really need still another visitor to tell us where the house leaks, and where the foundation decays? Or that this country will remain trapped in a suffocating quagmire of its own making unless it wrenches itself loose? Further, what about those domestic savants, the lowly writers, the obscure patriots who burn, day in and day out, with the zeal to table such callings, as shared by the one-time foreign deputy? Yes, what about them? Truly, it can be said, in yet another instance, that prophets are not beloved in their home towns. If anything, they are easily scorned and dismissed. Such is the contemptuous territory of too much familiarity.
Let it be said here and now (and again) that at the end of the day, and after all the analyses, the solutions to the intractable thorny issues facing this nation have to be homegrown and home-powered and home-managed.
After this and that accord and the patient prodding of neighbours and friends, the answers must still be found here and pursued here by people here. Anything else will be short-lived. Cumulatively, the outsiders (no matter how well-intentioned, articulated, and influential) are like lightning flashes in a clear daylight sky: here now, gone just now. Work over, day done. The hard work and heavy lifting, the dedication to cause and country must start here and with those who care enough to wish to make a significant difference in moving forward.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
