ONE letter-writer opined that the utterances of the small political party, the Alliance For Change (AFC) are increasingly sounding like those of the main opposition People’s National Congress (PNC); but leopards do not change their spots, and one wonders how Khemraj Ramjattan, who was once a victim of PNC machinations, feel about this equation, given that the co-leader of his party was once part of a partnership that shouted “slo’ fiah, mo’ fiah,” as Georgetown burnt and innocent Guyanese, many of them young children, were molested, robbed and/or injured.

How far is “Prak,” as people in the PPP who are still fond of him call him, prepared to compromise in order to save face, because those who know him cannot fathom how he can be comfortable in his new skin?

Many persons in the People’s Progressive Party, especially those who grew up as cadres under Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s guidance, as “Prak” did, are uncompromisingly patriotic, always putting the nation first; then how could Prak be comfortable with this overt attempt to derail Guyana’s relationship with the United States by subverting the position of the President, who said that he is tired of being lectured to about our failings as a nation – not as Bharrat Jagdeo, mind you, but as a nation, and that we need genuine partnership in the fight against the scourge of drugs.

Guyana has severely limited resources, expansive and ill-guarded borders, and is an acknowledged transshipment point for drug traffickers. If the United States, with all its resources and manpower, cannot effectively control its own drug-related problems, how in the name of all that is reasonable could Guyana do so without what President Jagdeo requested – a genuine partnership with affected nations so that what has largely been an ad hoc approach to curtail the trafficking and usage of illicit drugs could transform into a combined and sustained effort that may eventually close the chinks and diminish capacities for drug lords to traverse with impunity on the global highways.

How could the President of Guyana be blamed for corruption within crime-fighting units, when even in the great United States of America corruption is endemic and pervasive, with scandalous stories involving officials at the highest levels surfacing with great regularity – and moreso; with what credibility could someone who was a powerbroker in an administration that entrenched corruption in the Guyanese society speak of distrust of the law-enforcement officials by U.S. policing bodies?

Why should the President’s pursuit of expanded opportunities to boost our economy be of any threat to our established relationships with other nations, in this instance the United States?

And why should someone who portends to be a national leader want to undermine the relations Guyana currently enjoys with the United States by creating doubts on the intentions of the President of Guyana, when the repercussions could reverberate to create disturbances in our national economy?

Ambition is a wonderful thing if it drives self-development and service to humankind. Ambitions that drive actions that can create strife on one’s country and disrespect to the citizens of one’s country, no matter how vulnerable and underdeveloped the country is, border on the traitorous – and can even assume treasonous proportions.

However, the Americans may prove themselves to be gracious enough, like the Europeans, who paid tribute to the courage, pride, and commitment to national welfare by the President of the Republic of Guyana when they granted him the concessions to the EPA that he had requested, and disregard the contemptible and unpatriotic actions and utterances of those whom are so desperate for support that they can pimp their own motherland.