–or perish together as fools

Dear editor,
I MAY not be living in Guyana, but Guyana is forever living in me. And to this I may add that living away does not in anyway diminish my love for my homeland. For if there is ever the perfect benchmark of true love, one only needs to revisit the biblical story of King Solomon, and the two women and the baby. For that narrative encapsulates the archetype of agape, love of a mother and her painful preparedness to give up her child rather than have him come to harm. And this chronicle is précised in the statement, “No one would wish to harm what they love.”

No patriotic Guyanese would wish harm on the country and the people they claim to love; no patriotic Guyanese would be demanding economic sanctions on their country and their people. Such economic sanctions, these so-called leaders are championing, would spell death and hardship on those who they count as their supporters. If in doubt about the dark consequences of sanctions, simply take a look over your shoulders at what is transpiring in Venezuela. The starving eating out of garbage bins; the sick dying in hospitals because of the lack of basic medications. Anarchy’s the perfect breeding ground for gang warfare.

Millions desperately fleeing across the borders to escape the living nightmare. Is that what you wish for your people? And the Newsroom journalist who apparently has the American ambassador’s phone number on speed dial, and ever so often needs reassurance that sanctions are still on the table, is that what you wish for your supporters? Would you ever hear a Democratic supporter wishing that the North Koreans invade America because they dislike the Republican President? Would you ever hear the Labour supporter be wishing that the Russians invade Britain because they dislike the Conservative Prime Minister? Can your patriotism match theirs?

We as a Caribbean people have the commonality of a painful history of slavery, indentureship, colonisation and exploitation. We recognised that no one but us can understand our internal political and economic problems, stemming from these tragedies. Out of this unique need was birthed an institution which transcends our borders; a collective body in our eyes. A body that speaks for us all. A body to which we can turn to solve our problems. Brothers and sisters sitting together at the negotiating table as equals, with the only interest of betterment for all. No hidden agenda for exploitation.

This our brainchild is our CARICOM: Our own; our very own. So it was with a deep lacerating pain that caused an indescribable ache to my heart when I read a letter from Marco Rubio, a Republican Senator who disparagingly wrote that we need “credible international observers” to validate our recount. Who is Marco Rubio? Did he not get the ‘memo’ that we, the descendants of slaves and indentured labourers, no longer need the validation of ‘massa’? Why he thinks that they have prescriptive rights to solve our internal problems? Why should he feel that without their stamp of approval, our recount would not be credible? Do our black and brown faces in CARICOM preclude us from solving our own problems? What special skills Carter Center brings, that is presently absent in the ACCC that would make their presence an absolute necessity? Don’t black lives matter, as it pertains to COVID-19? The fact is that the ACCC is bulging at the seams, far exceeding the numbers recommended by our health experts. GECOM staff are spilling onto the lawns of ACCC. This is already a fertile ground for COVID-19 that the Carter Center is demanding a place at the recount table.

What we are witnessing in Guyana is also playing out in Trinidad, another CARICOM country. They, too, have joined the choir of demanding sanctions on their country. My position is if such political players lack confidence in CARICOM, then they are free to proffer internal solutions for the betterment of our Institution. If they rather have external solutions, then they are free to migrate to a country under whose system they are imposing on us. For this, I am certain, they will painfully discover that those who are imposing their will and systems on us have worse problems that they completely ignore.

And the sad reality is that those who are languishing in such problems don’t look like them; rather, they look like us. So you, the sanction junkies, will just simply add to those numbers of third-class citizens. And if your party of choice was not elected, and you foolishly decide to have a public protest, wishing North Korea invades your adapted homeland and in the process kills and maims many, you can rest assure that you will be kicked right out, but not before you are given a painful reminder of the colour of your skin and your lack of patriotism.

CARICOM is our own; it was our idea to bring us together as a people, promote our community and solve our problems. No institution is perfect. The EU is not perfect. NAFTA is not perfect. The UN is not perfect. NATO is not perfect. The Commonwealth is not perfect. The OAS is not perfect. Not because an institution is imperfect, we destroy it.

We discredit it. We allow others to insult it. When we conduct ourselves the way we have over the past two months, then we will reinforce the misplaced belief to the external world that we cannot solve our own problem. Then they will present themselves, like vultures to a carcass, pretending to provide a solution for the fighting factions. The fact is that they care less about a solution, for they know all too well that united we stand, divided we fall.

So they will set about widening the racial and political chasms, utilising a few unpatriotic internal agents. So while we fight amongst ourselves, they swiftly siphon off our oil. They have done this in the recent past. With our gold. With our bauxite. With our diamonds.

With our rice. With our sugar. With our alumina. With our timber. Then word got to their opportunistic ear that we found oil, so they are back on our doorsteps to create chaos. As a kid, I learnt that it is important that I know my friends, but more important that I know my enemies. Be wise, or we will forever be the laughing stock of the world: Swimming in wealth, yet drowning in poverty.
Regards,
Dr. Mark Devonish