— Guyana tells U.S.
GUYANA needs more walk and less talk from the United States and other international partners in the anti-narcotics fight, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon declared yesterday.
In a blunt reaction to the latest annual State Department report required by U.S. law on countries receiving American aid, the top government spokesman defended this country’s counternarcotics efforts given its resource capability.
“Much more work needs to be done if Guyana were to sustain its efforts in the anti-narcotics fight and to be provided with the support of the international community, particularly the U.S.”, he argued at his weekly post-Cabinet news briefing.
Luncheon reported that Cabinet considered the 2010 State Department report on Guyana at its weekly meeting Tuesday and its initial reaction was no different to previous reports –“more walk, less talk” must come from the U.S.
He declared that expectations that the new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama would have responded “constructively to widespread criticisms” of the U.S. anti-narcotics regime were dwindling.
He recalled U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declaring in Mexico last year that the drugs trade had much to do with demand and consumption in the North and said Guyana cannot be expected to bear the brunt of this one-sided burden of fighting narco-trafficking.
Luncheon stated that to rachet up the anti-narcotics fight, recognition must be given to the interventions made and sustained by the Guyana Government, including legislative changes and integrity testing of officials in anti-narcotics and other state agencies.
He stressed that Guyana needs more assistance specifically with information flows which will have to be less one-sided, technology transfer and tools and greater collaboration at the bilateral and international levels.
“The progress, the environment in the anti-narcotics fight on the level of Guyana Government intervention has been proven by legislative initiatives taken by the administration and the continuation of existing policies in dealing with integrity testing”, he said.
He recalled that the Guyana Government has complained bitterly about the one-sided traffic uploaded to the North and “information either of interest to us or even information requested not being provided in as timely a way as needed”.
He noted that the U.S. has not helped Guyana track an alleged mastermind behind the torching last July of the Health Ministry complex on Brickdam, Georgetown.
The complex was gutted after it was set on fire by persons who hurled Molotov cocktails into buildings and Guyana Police have linked the arson to a Guyanese hiding out in the U.S.
“We still feel that the Americans are harbouring a terrorist”, Luncheon declared, adding that the U.S. has not responded positively to requests for help to apprehend the suspect.
He said U.S. officials have identified the person; they have discovered that he was a deportee who went back to the U.S. under an assumed name and have his address and phone number.
“But we haven’t been able to move an inch further in getting our hands on this terrorist”, he reported.
Luncheon said the U.S. has arrogated to itself the annual production of the State Department report and comments on the actions, interventions and the status of the anti-narcotics campaign by other sovereign countries when “more walk, less talk” was needed.
He said Guyana feels there are adequate tools for cooperation in criminal matters but the will is needed to utilise them to support “our side and not get an uneven break on the American side.”
“We provide information; we collaborate; and the question for us is we are not happy and we have identified our unhappiness about the level of reciprocity and therefore, just like in the anti-narcotics fight, so it is in the rest of the crime fight — we need to put it on a new level playing field where our domestic and international obligations will not be dealt with asymmetrically.”
“What Guyana needs now is more support from our international partners”, Luncheon stressed.
The 2010 State Department report concludes that Guyana’s efforts at drug interdiction “remain inadequate”.
It said U.S. government analysts believe drug trafficking organisations here continue to elude law enforcement agencies through bribes and coercion.
It notes that Guyana is party to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC) but has yet to fully implement its provisions such as seizure of property obtained through corruption.
The U.S. urged the Guyana Government to effectively follow up on recent legislation supporting counternarcotics efforts and to implement the new plea bargaining and wiretapping laws.
“We look forward to collaborating with Guyanese law enforcement to test the amended extradition law and emphasise the need for vigorous exploitation of the money laundering legislation”, the report said.