The United States today announced that additional “senior individuals” from Guyana will be prevented from entering the country for undermining democracy.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Ambassador Michael Kozak spoke today on the Administration’s efforts to promote democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
He announced travel restrictions in addition to those of July 15th which had been announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The transcript of Kozak’s remarks in relation to Guyana follows:
AMBASSADOR KOZAK: Well, thanks, Cale. And thank all of you for joining the call. I hope you’re all staying safe and strong. Wanted to take a step back today and look at one of our key policy priorities, which is advancing democracy in the Western Hemisphere, the hemisphere of freedom.
Today, the vast majority of the countries in the Americas and the Caribbean are democracies. We’re getting ever closer to the ideal that OAS member-states committed to when they signed the Inter-American Democratic Charter in 2001. We’ve been working with our partners and through the OAS to stand up for democracy where it is under threat, and at the same time we’re trying to turn the tide in those countries where democracy is but a dream.
On July 15, the Secretary announced the imposition of visa restrictions on individuals responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana. Today, we are acting to prevent additional senior individuals from that country from entering the United States. The Secretary’s been clear: The Granger administration and its allies continue to defy the will of the Guyanese people by refusing to accept the vote count. The count has been certified as valid by international observers OAS and CARICOM, Guyana’s and the Caribbean’s highest courts. The United States joins the rest of the region refusing to go along with this farce. We will continue to act until the Granger administration accepts the will of Guyanese voters.
