Dear Editor,
President Ali recently said, “Talks with Exxon are like negotiating with a superpower.” Such comments make it seem as if the oil companies are all powerful more than God, and that they act like bullies. Mr. President, Exxon is not a country, and is not a superpower. Darren Woods and Alistair Routledge are not Presidents of a rich country, you are. Did the PPP think Exxon was a superpower when the PPP publicly was telling voters they would “review and renegotiate” the oil contracts, but was secretly promising Exxon they will not renegotiate the contracts?
The oil companies do not own Guyana. We are not “Exxon Guyana,” the way we were “Bookers Guyana.” Exxon is a multinational corporation and they have been sued all over the world, and they lost cases. They are not invincible. The US President Biden recently slammed them over their super profits when he said, “Exxon made more money than God.” Recently, two committees of the US Congress hauled in the oil companies including Exxon and essentially bitchslapped them for their profitmaking and environmental record. Mr. President, get your Cabinet to read Steve Coll’s book, “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power.”
Mr. President, the oil and gas belongs to Guyana – a poor country facing persistent poverty with its currency lower than Haiti’s. Exxon and friends work for us. We are their bosses. The PPP are temporary caretakers of this national patrimony, and Guyanese voters are your bosses. The PPP can be voted in and voted out upon the whim of voters. When you hang by a one-seat majority, it’s easy to be voted out. The PPP should work for the voters of Guyana, not Exxon. At this point, Exxon needs us more than we need Exxon. Guyana is their sweet spot that will make them filthy rich and make their shareholders deliriously happy and giddy with profits, while Guyana begs for crumbs falling from the oil masters’ tables.
What the President needs to note is that if his government does not renegotiate the oil and all natural resource contracts, he will have to face the real “superpower” – the voters of Guyana. Exxon does not vote in Guyana elections. It’s the masses of poor people whose votes are powerful to put a Political Party in and to take them out when they don’t keep promises to dramatically transform the people’s lives. The President should fear the masses of Guyanese people, not Exxon. If the PPP loses in 2025, it will be mainly because of its failure to keep its 2020 election promise that it will review and renegotiate the oil contracts. Any emerging Third Force is bound to remind voters that the PPP has not kept the “mother of all promises” to renegotiate.
Mr. Glenn Lall is calling for national protests to get Exxon to renegotiate the oil contracts, and the Government can give quiet support if it does not want to upset its “superpower” friend.
People are understanding that there is a direct nexus between solutions to poverty and renegotiation of the oil contracts that will give us more money to deal with all our problems related to our standard of living. People have high expectations and instead of the PPP coming up with long-term, structural solutions, we get more of the same – random hampers and cash grants. If the government had increased the minimum wage to G$100,000, it would not need to do all the gimmicks of giving school grants and other small random grants. Government needs to design a “living wage” system that includes an unemployment benefits programme, a recurring system of cost-of-living increases to Old-Age and NIS pensioners, income supports for stay-at-home moms, etc.
Mr. President, Glenn Lall and KN have given you a great start and the Stabroek News supports renegotiation. Bring in the Opposition and Civil Society groups, and the people of Guyana will support a united front against Exxon and friends, so that Guyana gets the lion’s share of the country’s wealth and not foreign corporations. It’s our wealth and our country. Wake up Guyana!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall