This is a country where an anti-government cabal consisting of certain civil society organisations, anti-oil lobby, certain women groups, two private newspapers and a gathering of ethnic-preachers would say anything against the government and exploit any event or narrative or debate in Guyana simply to criticise the government.

I have left out the opposition parties, even the smaller ones. Their tone is not as toxic and emotionally wild as the list named above. In fact, the ongoing irony in Guyana is that more acidic condemnations of the government come from these quarters rather than the opposition parties.

The main reason is that the raison d’être of political parties is to win over hearts and minds and transfer them to votes. Political parties then cannot be seen as crazy, wild and comical as other anti-government actors.

One example should suffice to demonstrate the emotive rush against the ruling party that one would not find in the opposition parties.

A group of anti-government activists published a letter in the Stabroek News demanding that the teenager that allegedly started a dormitory fire that killed 20 young residents must not be charged with 20 counts of murder but with arson. Where else in the world would you find such stupidity?

These actors were at it again. The Stabroek News editorialised that “there are many things about this meeting that are problematic and unwholesome. The first is that it handsomely rewards President Maduro for the flagrant aggression he has displayed towards Guyana.” A few other misguided folks or anti-government haters saw no reason for Ali to be going to meet with Maduro.
In this country, since 2020, the ruling party is so besieged with “experts” criticising policies that one can well imagine the instant dismissal of these relentless outpourings by the President and his Cabinet.

In a border controversy in which a country that Guyana cannot defend itself militarily against, Venezuela, these detractors opine that President Ali must not attend a meeting with the aggressor brokered by one of the most powerful countries in the world – Brazil.

President Ali entered the St. Vincent dialogue on Thursday and it was a shining success for him. President Ali got from the aggressor a commitment the aggressor has given to the international community that put Maduro in a position of danger should he back out of what he has pledged to the world.

Rewind the tape and there was a visible cloud of trepidation on the visage of most Guyanese about an eminent invasion during the days leading up to the referendum in Venezuela. The maudlin horizon expanded after the yes result in the referendum even though in actuality it was a failure because of the low turn-out.

I put to former GDH head and PNC central committee member, Dr. Gary Best when he appeared last Wednesday on the Freddie Kissoon-Gildarie Show, the possibility that the dialogue may be a forum that Maduro needed to modify his attitude given that he found no solace from any country in the world for his threats to Guyana. Dr. Best agreed.

What occurred in the St. Vincent dialogue is exactly that. Maduro used the covenant to reassure the world that there will be no invasion of Guyana’s territory. Guyana conceded nothing but won other prizes in the following areas;

1-The partners in the covenant – Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil, and CARICOM – have accepted that the Essequibo claim of Venezuela must be settled by international legal decisions.
2-There will be ongoing confabulations on any area of unease between the two countries.
3-There will be no use of words, utterances or emanations that concerns the border controversy in the future. This is a fantastic point in his favour that Dr. Ali chalked up. It means from Friday, December 14, onwards Venezuela at the official level will not poison the amelioration of tensions through the injection of an unwanted or wrong vocabulary.
4- One of the safeguards of this provision is that if there should be utterances on both sides on the Essequibo controversy, then each country can request the intervention of CARICOM, CELAC and more importantly, the President of Brazil.
5- The establishment of a joint commission. The value of this dimension of the agreement is that at a very high level, the two countries will be talking. What this mechanism does is ensure that there is no long break in relationship and no room for mischief.

You look at what came out of the St. Vincent dialogue and it was a resounding success for President Ali. There isn’t any section of the joint communiqué that has put Guyana at a disadvantage. Guyana may very well have been living in mental confusion if Dr. Ali did not win out in St. Vincent.