WHEN you cannot distinguish between your country and the government of the day, then you are an unfit human. I am convinced that there are sub-human minds at work in relation to two trajectories in Guyana – the Venezuelan threat and the Azruddin Mohamed threat.
There is an irrational anti-government mindset out there that feels a Venezuelan threat fits into their anti-government agenda, and they would shape their anti-government instincts to the detriment of the social and physical integrity of their country if there is a Venezuelan incursion. I believe that. I deeply believe that.
Then there is the Azruddin Mohamed threat. It started years ago when the power of Mohamed was on display. It was the emergence of a parallel jurisdiction to the state. Mohamed had so much money that in a small, developing country where the state was susceptible to money power, Mohamed’s money power became ubiquitous. Mohamed became Mr. Untouchable.
Mohamed shamelessly, egoistically, and barefacedly showed off his wealth. I knew his father (“Shell”) very well. He was a friend of mine. Each time, I saw Mohamed showing off his helicopter, his $100 million car, I couldn’t help wondering what had become of Shell.
Azruddin could use money to get whatever he wanted. Ten years ago, Mohamed became a threat to state integrity. Mohamed ran a parallel sphere of influence. No boundary was insurmountable. He could finance his way into Guyana’s existence. Guyana was awash with the speculation that he had some kind of connection to the shooting death of Ricardo Fugandas outside Palm Court.
None of the surveillance cameras were working on Main Street and adjacent streets that night of the shooting. No police transmission occurred throughout the East Bank of Demerara, so the getaway car drove up the Linden highway and was burnt.
All the talk was that it was ego-tripping over a woman. Mohamed fathered a child with Roger Khan’s children mother and it looked like that became the source of bad blood. Khan said at the funeral service that he was the intended target. Then the police officer that knew who was behind the killing told the story for the world to hear and read. He told his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, everything, and he implicated a security staff member in the employment of Mohamed’s father as the killer.
Mohamed has become even more dangerous since Fagundas’s murder as a reaction to the Government’s refusal to help him escape the tentacles of the US Justice Department. Those who see Mohamed as a way of backing his politics to oppose the government better withdraw immediately.
The incidents are building up. Think of your country that was a begging bowl for all its independent life. Now Guyana has joined the world. I am in my seventies, so I lived under a Guyana that appeared permanently “dirt poor.” You should not let a decadent playboy like Mohamed create instability in your country.
The incidents are never-ending. A Venezuelan arrived the night before and tried to bomb a gas station in the heart of the city. This was no disgruntled employee. This was a mercenary that was employed to create havoc. On the visit of King Charles, the GPL admitted the long hours of blackout were sabotage at a main sub-station.
Now arsonists unsuccessfully struck another GPL sub-station. We have to see the writing on the wall. It is there to see. Those who think Mohamed has no Venezuelan connection will get apoplexy and never recover when they read the US indictments against Mohamed. They cite his large connections with Venezuelan mercenaries, gold smugglers and drug traffickers.
The charges against Mohamed are so serious that plea bargaining will not result in months of jail but years. My advice to the government is to go the Sammy Gravano way. He killed 19 people for John Gotti. To get Gotti, Gravano had to testify, so the authorities offered a plea bargain to Gravano. Serve time, then go into witness protection.
There is a mastermind behind that attempted gas station bombing. Guyana should offer a Gravano pathway to the bombers with a light sentence and then witness protection. The same should be done to the man currently held for the sub-station arson this week.
Guyana is facing a formidable threat. The reality is it is facing such a threat, and we must recognise it. Anti-government haters need to look into the mirror. Why support this man? He is no person of substance. He is no nationalist. He is no politician of any meaning. Azruddin Mohamed is a flawed creature that society needs to part company with. Those who support him want his money, but a fool and his money will lose themselves and what they crave for.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.
