Dear Editor
ON January 6, 2019, I received a call from Russia on my cellphone. Later, I became aware that hundreds of Guyanese shared similar experiences. I have noticed that some sections of the media have called it a scam. Not so fast. Recall in 2016, that Russia alleged meddling in the elections of the United States of America?

No, they did not interfere with computers and other associated equipment, but they managed to dump informational materials, including nasty stuff about top political candidates and fake news on people’s Facebooks and other social media, which influenced the way the people voted. In fact, reports said that they reached over 125,000,000 (one hundred and twenty five million) people in the USA with that kind of information. In Guyana, it is not difficult to find the link between a certain political party and Russia.

With oil on the horizon for Guyana, the Russian Bombers that visited neighbouring Venezuela and general elections around the corner, government must leave nothing to chance. The authorities must pay attention to that recent development. I hope that the government is not taking this for granted; they should launch an investigation and report to the nation what really happened with so many calls coming in from Russia.

Also, I hope that our military or some other agency is working on developing the capacity to detect, monitor, report and take appropriate action against this kind of meddling in the internal affairs of Guyana. Maybe we need to ask for assistance from our friends in the international community, I don’t know; but we should explore possibilities for support in this area of warfare.

Also, the appropriate ministries and agencies should ensure that very sensitive, national information is protected and that proper surveillance is done to keep Guyana and Guyanese safe.

Regards
James Botsman