Dear Editor,
I share a couple thoughts on President Ali’s inaugural address to the National Assembly. I am trying to give Guyana’s head of state a free hand to run wherever he wishes, while I wait to see the substances behind his many promises. I say that he is long on promise, with what follows speaking for itself.
First, Ali said that Guyana will not be the “pawn or puppet” of any power. That certainly has a nice patriotic ring to it, until one reads the fine print, the qualification, so to speak. The president was very specific: military bases. I agree with the president, because that OAS vote (against the grain) for the American-backed candidate does not amount to the establishment of a military facility. Ditto: the snafu over some Taiwanese office. Exxon has established an economic base; and the rest of the American invasion is on the way, which I like. But, of course, none of those is a military base being established; simply a more nuanced form of base presence, big power puppeteering, and host country complying.
To be clear, when the powers (A and C and R) can get local leaders to agree to take place covertly, or under legitimate umbrellas, then there is little need for the power projection of base diplomacy. The Americans already have a floating one under the auspices of that joint maritime agreement, which I call an open-ended naval base. Welcome to Caribbean style war games, Guyana. On this issue of a base, this where I stand. If it safeguards against the covetous, I am for it. If it brings in the bacon, then let it sizzle. It could be healthy. It is why I think David Granger erred. I remind of Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and the many ways that he used bases as bargaining chips, to the frustrations of successive American presidents. A real smaat-man, he was. And regardless of what form a base assumes here, as long as it is American, then tally ho, heave ho, and cheerio. I have a caution for our leader: be careful with serving two masters.
Then, I read that President Ali is rolling out a “One Guyana Commission.” I laud the initiative, despite my own harsh misgivings on our national motto, which speaks of “one” not once, but thrice, and look where we are. I do hope that the president is not engaging in more sloganeering with that “One Guyana Commission.” I will be bold so as to state: do not bring overtures through side doors and backdoors, while slamming the front door shut in the faces of those that your government singled out to denigrate. I urge all to peer closely at that word “denigrate” and understand where I stand. Unless the president embarks on reversing that through authentic inclusion, then he is about nothing other than those long-ago lyrics from the Bee Gees that I now paraphrase: all I have is words, and words are all I have to take down a primrose path.
I point to parliamentary exclusions, public service expulsions, and (as somebody mentioned) the different strokes for sugar versus bauxite. According to Demerara Waves, Ali says he wants to build trust, forge partnerships. A question might be timely: with whom? Certainly, those are not built on what has happened in the brief time that the PPP has been in office. Last, I notice that President Ali’s speechwriters are heavy on stirring quotes from the reputable and resonant. I like that, too. But, sometime or the other, Guyana’s president is going to have to demonstrate concretely, what he is made of beyond quotes and words. As Christian Scriptures say, faith is good; but faith without works is dead. To put differently: words without the confirming foundations of stellar deeds, are nothing but mere words. As empty as the wind, and as hollow as the receding echoes they create in passing.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
