Dear Editor,

Guyanese are on Facebook and Twitter and many read letters in the newspapers. Some of them, particularly in the diaspora far from where the bullets and pellets will fly, make frequent calls for mass action against the government. The unjust actions of the PPP/C regime are getting worse. Here, it is hard to stay calm amid increasing poverty and hunger while seeing the obscene lifestyles of the elite. It is hard to be quiet when we see wealthy, powerful people, getting away with wongdoing; when our freedom of speech is strangled; and when we can’t even vote for our local political representatives. It is human nature to want to fight to take back our country.

I agree that we need mass action to reclaim our rights. We must act to get a decent life, political and legal equality, government transparency, accountability, and real democracy. How we mobilise though, and what actions we take, will determine the future of our country. Our actions will either result in a prosperous and united Guyana, or mass bloodshed in a divided, ruined land. No patriotic Guyanese would wish a repeat of the riots of the 1960s. Editor, citizens must instead mobilise to bridge the politically-created racial divide, and work towards an undivided Guyanese national identity with regular democratic elections. Patriotic citizens must realise that Guyanese of all races are suffering under this regime. We must educate ourselves, follow the news, share information, put ourselves in our neighbours’ shoes, and realise that we all suffer or succeed together.

Confronting our neighbours in the streets is not the answer; our fellow citizens are not our enemies. Such misguided action will not remove our oppressors nor build a better future. The results of the Arab Spring stand clearly for themselves. Let us mobilise, but do so intelligently. Because, Editor, thoughtful, strategic, unified, peaceful action is the only way forward.

Yours faithfully,

Mark DaCosta