IT is not a fashionable art of mine to respond to articles of other writers, but I am so inclined this time to respond to one Mike Persaud who penned an article on the United States being the so-called saviour of Guyana and as such those who speak of the atrocities committed by this superpower are branded “attackers of the regime.”
The essence of his diatribe mirrors one of those refugee individuals who have been granted an asylum in the U.S, gratis, so everything the US does is just holy and good and everyone should gullibly accept that presupposition. He went on to lecture his readers on a number of half truths and downright lies concerning United States foreign relations.
In the first place, the United States did not cause a restoration of democracy in Guyana. The Carter Centre, which is a private non-governmental organisation did not bring democracy. They were only the overseers or facilitators of a movement that had its groundswell in people pressure.  Further to it, there was no magic formula to the process because the Carter Centre knew fully well that with foreign observer missions swarming all over the country and a free and fair system, democracy would have been restored. It is not that great jocular rescue plan promulgated by Persaud. It is far from it.

If we are to review relations between these two countries you will see quite the opposite. During the early days of the PPP, the United States was very open in their policy to unseat the elected government. They concocted accusations of Dr Jagan giving Guyana to the Russians, hence, Kennedy made it very clear to Jagan of U.S intentions to get rid of him. Arthur Schlesinger in his memoirs of Kennedy’s White House wrote: “Though many presidents have ordered the CIA to undermine foreign leaders, the Jagan papers are a rare smoking gun; a clear, written record without veiled words or plausible denials of a president’s command to depose a prime minister of a sovereign nation.” Is this the United States that is a loving, caring democracy interested in the replication of that form of government elsewhere? Let’s fast forward to US actions at the present time. We see a bullying nation using every means necessary to depose the PPP. They have sabotaged the administration by granting visas to rogue elements who they somehow believe can bring the elected government down; notable examples are Selwyn Vaughn, David Clarke, Paul Slowe, Winston Felix and Marcelle Joseph among others. They have been hostile to other serving government functionaries such as the Police Commissioner, denying them visas in the hope that they can embarrass the government. This behaviour is typical of the U.S when you consider their policy towards Haiti where despots and murderers were granted asylum in their country and the democratically elected leader was ousted. In fact, this blatant double standard was evident when Aristide’s Lavalas party was debarred from contesting the elections. If the U.S is so concerned about Haiti’s well-being, then return those murderers to Haiti and have them tried for crimes against humanity or at least face the International Court in the Hague.

From deposition of Salvador Allende in Chile to the massacre of innocent civilians in Libya, the high-handedness of U.S foreign policy is evident worldwide. One cannot deny that the United States is one big bully who throws its weight around on poor, defenceless nations already vulnerable by punishing economic hardships at home. Those nations like Guyana who somehow gathered enough courage to speak out against the regime were blacklisted for life.