AS I write this column here, I have just gone back to the HARDtalk BCC programme on oil where the host Stephen Sackur interviewed Ms. Vanda Radzik-Vieira (VRV) from the Red Thread leadership and someone that the Stabroek News (SN highlights all the time as a civil society activist (I wonder if SN still rejects the Private Sector Commission as a civil society body?).
I am satisfied VRV has defected from the spectrum on oil that she adumbrated in the November 13, 2020 issue of the SN, when, with together with 41 other persons the the following was written: “We are deeply concerned that the Government’s policy to pursue economic development based on oil and gas is bad for Guyana. Oil and gas production are an existential threat to Guyana.
We cannot support government’s policy to produce oil and gas when every ton of greenhouse gas pollution cause (sic) loss of life in African countries. In light of the above we call for a national moratorium on all petroleum operations in Guyana – offshore and onshore.”
Before we go to the defection of VRV, I need to make a clarification. 42 persons signed the letter demanding an immediate cessation of oil production in Guyana, among which was a gentleman named Gerald Perreia. I have known Mr. Perreira since we were 18 years of age, when we were young Marxists. Mr. Perreira and I are still friends.
For the record, he wants the people of Guyana to know that he is not on the spectrum as outlined in that letter and has withdrawn his name. That leaves 40.
Now here is the reaction of VRV when Mr. Sackur asked her if the Guyana Government should walk away from the billions of American dollars from oil production. He specifically requested her “alternative suggestion.” She introduced the concept of spectrum.
She told Mr. Sackur that there are two spectrums that people hold in relation to exploration and production of oil. One is to leave the stuff in the ground. The other is to secure a more profitable contract with EXXON. Her words were; “let’s get the best deal.” Actually, she is not saying that herself. She thinks that is how the other spectrum feels.
If you juxtapose VRV’s position in the letter of 42 and her answer to Mr. Sackur, it appears that she does not embrace the spectrum of November 13, 2022 in the SN. And while it can be asserted that she does not endorse the 2022 spectrum, it is left to guess which of the two spectrums she thinks hold more validity. Let’s leave the spectrums for the moment and talk about political behaviour and obligation to the citizenry.
I have always argued, in my 55 years of activism, my 26 years of academic teaching at UG and 35 years in journalism that two qualities must be possessed by a public intellectual. One is when you enter into polemics of the public space, then do not resort to anonymity and the courts. Debate your critics and do so in your own name.
Mr. Glenn Lall once asked me to defend the businessman who just died, Mr. Sugrim-aka- Chinney when the police questioned him about a drug investigation in Berbice. Mr. Lall suggested an anonymous letter. I refused and that would have been the end of my attachment to Kaieteur News because I insultingly told Lall, I will never disrespect my parents by hiding the name they gave me. I didn’t believe in defending Chinney since I did not do any investigation.
In my 35 years of journalism I have sued one person only, the late Walter Ramsahoye because he scandalised my name on channel 11 yet had the temerity to sue me. So I countersued. I really don’t care what people say about me. Never did, never will. In life, damn if you do, damn if you don’t. The second quality is obligation to people who believe in you and accept your activism.
The SN asked for my reaction when the paper said it was told by someone who knew me in my teenage days that when I was 17, I stole books from the National Library. I know SN would have run with the story and printed that I offered a “no comment” comment. I offered the facts and because I owed it to the people that see me in a positive light.
VKV has an obligation to tell Guyanese if she is still on stop-the-oil spectrum. And the 40 other persons who penned that 2022 spectrum have an obligation to Guyanese to say if they see only one viable spectrum and that it is to come out of oil. Obligation is a philosophical act that holds civilization together.
