Lessons from Paris and the implications for the independent media in Guyana
By Paul Sanders Caribbean Daylight, NY, January
2015
In the end, twelve people lay dead. Killed - in cold blood.
What happened at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris last week looked like a blockbuster script
for a Hollywood production. It had all the ingredients for an action flick.
Precise. Messy. Barbarous. Military marksmanship. Eerily written, this screenplay was
apocalyptically formulated thousands of miles away, cultures away, from location set. Credits to
Guyana's attorney general, the very honorable Anil Nandlall, a member of the upper caste -
traditionally known to be associated with military affairs.
Ya think? Well, here's the deal. Let's reconverge to the scene: the obscenity of this man's prose in
the infamous telephone exchange with Kaieteur News last fall. And what you are hearing is the
tonality, quite familiar, to the madness of an Islamist militant terrorist, steeped in extreme brutality
and gore.
What the massacre in Paris did is to provide the graphics, the moving images of Mr. Nandlall's roaring
rant. Far-fetched, right? Then tell that to the people at Kaieteur News; they've been there before.
That eventual evening of the summer 2006 still gives the jitters. And the casualties of the Charlie
Hebdo newspaper is yet another traumatic reminder. And forewarning!
Now let us not get ahead of ourselves. In Guyana, the ruling oligarchy does not have the most
cordial relationship with the independent press. Or even independent thinking, for that matter. Do
recall in 2011, President Bharrat Jagdeo, in his heyday as a certified A-Hole with his trademark
flamboyant mix of impatience and casual viciousness, described the media as "vultures and carrion
crows."
This is the same man, who at that time, was the virtual Minister of Information. This is the same man
who signed the Declaration of Chapultepec, signaling his support for press freedom and freedom of
speech.
Then what happened? It was all a set of ruse and plenty of fluff. The president, like all despots
before him, went about the business of transforming the state-owned media entities into
mouthpieces of his party. Like they did in the Soviet republics. And in North Korea.
Once he tightened his grips on communications outlets, he then directed his hostility toward
Stabroek News, Kaieteur News, and all those who exposed corruption, or were critical of his
government. With a fan club of zealots, hatriots, freaks and weirdos, Mr. Jagdeo quickly developed
the art of manipulation, deceit and belligerence.
He also attracted critics. Many, many critics. Eloquent. Intelligent. Upstarts who were readily
available to take him down in the polemics. But Mr. Jagdeo was least interested in dialectics; he was
already honing in on his Stalinist impulses; he sharpened his crankiness, descended into some sort of
bi-polar derangement. He raged against his detractors.
Cuss-downs were his trademark smackdown at press conferences. No need for diplomacy. Less
respect, more lunacy. No need for enlightened retort. Just cuss-downs, pure and natural.
Unarguably, the best thing since Mel Gibson in the department of the bizarre. His toxicity registered
across the political grid. Just Dr. Yesu Persaud; he knows first hand what a jerk President Jagdeo is,
especially when you yanked his chains.
All of this pugnacity was the build up to a sickening obsession with dissidents, combatants and
guerillas found abundantly - where else - in the private media. Scathing editorials with cogent point
of views; cartoons lampooning witless political figures; news stories uncovering nepotism, cronyism
and betrayal of public trust; letter columns with persuasive language challenging the sensibilities of
the administration - they all sum totaled to an army of villians the PPP regime love to hate. And they
do. By default.
Which brings us to another philistine. A jackass. Clement Rohee. This very bright man who heads
the Ministry of Home Affairs had to speak again. On New Year's Eve. Oh God!
Here's the drivel. In a recap of the year 2014, the minister submitted that it was a "relatively
successful year for law enforcement agencies"..... and "that peace and good order in our society
prevailed." Word. But don't pewk. Not yet. You can consider that rant a zinger in the light of a
recent report that explained how Guyana is fast becoming the murder metroplois of the world.
You just can't think of a funnier or more perfect takedown of this man's idiocy. Then Mr. Rohee got a
little freakier. The prodigy began bitchin' that "huge profits" will be benefited by the media for
painting his ministry in a "bad light."
This man is definitely a fruitcake. Can somebody "slap" him for being ..... "stupid?" Pleeeeze!
It seems like Mr. Rohee is not only bent on specializing in talking crap; he has also developed a flair
for the dramatics: he knows how to fine tune the histrionics of a media conspiracy aiming to
desecrate the works of his good government.
Well, this is not the first instance of Mr. Rohee's love affair with the media. Back in 2008, he told
parliament about the conspiracy between the opposition and the media in giving a bad image to
state officials. Last October, he even called for a media regulatory body to curb the excesses of
Kaieteur News. Hmmm.
Think about it. Mr. Rohee has the luxury of being Guyanese and to carry on with his slum theatrics;
were he in the island of Jamaica, he would have quickly learned to appreciate the fact that curried
goat is quite a staple...... Just saying!
Where does that leave us? Going by the delusional theories of these frightwing folks, it means that
the state-owned media entities, controlled by the ruling cabal, are the good guys while the
indepedent press are the thugs. Doesnt it sound like a "Soviet" line of reasoning?
It is also an admission that the Guyana Chronicle, Mirror, NCN, and their acolytes are incapable of
measuring up to the surmounting deluge of bold ideas, information, accuracy and level of discussion
disseminated from the private media. That independent journalists are getting to the essence of
their stories, and are building credibility, and a cult following called the Guyanese nation.
And don't forget about social media. Facebook is an empire of countless anti-PPP bloggers.
Be reminded, too, of the reasons why President Jagdeo wanted so bad to strangulate Stabroek News
out of advertising revenue. Stabroek News was delivering extraordinary coverage and provocative
commentaries on the most topical issues.
Similarly, Demerara Waves was taking shots at the regime and was accused of slanted reporting.
And who can forget, or even forgive, the incident in which PPP hooligans attacked activist/writer
Freddie Kissoon with a bucket of toilet sludge? Then there was the blacklisting of journalist Gordon
Moseley.
So what is this all about? It's about the PPP's mantra of the "restoration of democracy" after 28
years of dictatorship. Yeah, a nightmare "democracy" looking like a daydream.
Like the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the threats start trickling in with bits and pieces of intemperate
language, intolerance, and political manuevers. Then the libel suits commence with the intention to
distract or slow down or intimidate critics.
This is the Guyana situation. We see a steady progression and an acceleration of the hostilities from
the ruling autocrats. We have witnessed first hand how the rhetorics of President Bharrat Jagdeo,
and his underlings upped the decibels of their antics, and promoted the vile stuff.
In this collaboration, we have also heard from Presidential Advisor Gail Teixeira in her reckless
juxtaposition of the independent media in Guyana to the Rwandan media's role in the 1994 genocide
in that country.
Sheer madness in the tradition of oppressive rule.
In a shamess epilogue of the Charlie Hebdo slaughters, a bottom feeder in the swamp of parasitic
party apparachicks was waxing philosophy in an uneasy blend of didacticism and juiced up Pravada-
style propaganda. A wingnut in his own right, party execuitve, comrade Hydar Ally, was pitching his
usual grotesque take in a Stabroek News letter column last week, omitting of course, contextual
significance to Guyana under his ruling party.
Now for the paradoxical. On Tuesday this week, the maestro of explicit language spoke out, lending
support to the people of France, and condemning the attack on free speech, and defending Islam.
No cuss down. No vulgarity. No nastiness. Just the right amount of righteousness and godly
sincerity.
You heard it right. Guyanese living symbol of sleaze, Attorney general Anil Nandlall, gave a lecture on
the Prophet Mohamed at the CIOG in Georgetown in their celebration of the birth of Prophet
Mohamed.
The guy sounded like an imam; never like an infidel.
There is hope, after all. Maybe his Rambo Chat-3 poster will be front page hit in the next edition of
Charlie Hebdo.
