Letter to US Secretary of State regarding the suspension of democracy in Guyana
Published on November 13, 2014
http://caribbeannewsnow.com/to...in-Guyana-23623.html
November 12, 2014
Hon. John Forbes Kerry
Secretary of State of the United States of America
United States Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Kerry:
Suspension of democracy in Guyana by the despotic Ramotar regime
We write to express grave concern regarding recent developments in Guyana, South America where, on November 10, 2014, President Donald Ramotar arbitrarily prorogued Parliament, thereby terminating debate, to avoid the passage of a no-confidence motion tabled by the Parliamentary majority. Under the Guyana constitution, passage of a no-confidence motion terminates the government and triggers new general elections. President Ramotar’s dictatorial act has consequently abrogated democracy and plunged Guyana into a constitutional crisis.
We therefore call on the United States government to condemn this undemocratic act and to impose sanctions against the government; including direct penalties against members of the ruling PPP ethnocracy.
The autocratic measure evidenced by the proroguing of parliament is a desperate attempt by the corrupt, ruling Peoples Progressive Party government to undemocratically extend its rule as well as stifle the democratic expression and will of the Guyanese people, so as to rule by decree.
The United States government is aware of the Ramotar regime’s alleged involvement in nefarious criminal enterprises, widespread corruption, suppression of press freedom, protection of narcotics traffickers, extra-judicial murders, government-sanctioned racial discrimination and other phenomena that have incensed the Guyanese nation and international community.
Sanctions should be condign under the aforementioned circumstances and the PPP regime’s protracted assault on democracy, as evidenced by its obdurate refusal to hold constitutionally overdue local government elections and other controversies. When the then serving US ambassador to Guyana, Mr Brent Hardt, cited the refusal to hold local elections as a violation of the constitution, he was savagely and personally attacked by President Ramotar and his government.
Guyana’s attorney general, Mr Anil Nandlall, was recently caught on tape admonishing a reporter from Kaiteur News newspaper, one of the local dailies, to leave the employ of that entity as he was preparing to dispatch gunmen to attack its headquarters in retaliation for the newspaper’s relentless exposure of corruption and malfeasance involving the attorney general and other high government officials. This is cause for consternation.
Moreover, court evidence established that the PPP government was previously involved in the assassination of journalist Ronald Waddell. Hence, revelations that Guyana’s chief law enforcement official is complicit in a contemplated act of public terror deserves global condemnation, particularly when the president and his government have refused to sanction Mr Nandlall, and have instead expressed unqualified support for his sanctimonious lawlessness.
President Ramotar’s dictatorial prorogation of parliament as a device to subvert the will of the people is the heaviest blow against democratic governance in Guyana. This parlous state of affairs has dire consequences for a society with prominent ethnic fault-lines. An outbreak of internecine violence cannot be permitted in our hemisphere. The US and the international community must act now, before violence erupts and the PPP government begins to kill its political opponents, as it has done in the past.
There is documented evidence by the United Nations that the PPP government facilitated the extra-judicial murder of over four hundred (400) young African-Guyanese men. The United States government also has previously established that members of the PPP regime entered into an alliance with now US convicted narco-trafficker Shaheed Roger Khan, who was recently convicted and sentenced to fifteen years in jail by a US Federal Judge in the Eastern District of New York (See United States of America v. Shaheed Khan, case # :2009-cr-00150).
During Khan’s trial the US Justice Department presented evidence substantiating the involvement of Guyanese government Minister Leslie Ramsammy (reportedly a citizen of the United States) with a notorious death squad. Court testimony establish that Mr Ramsammy facilitated the procurement of eavesdropping and cell phone triangulation equipment from the US for the said death squads, which were under the control of Shaheed Roger Khan, to use to track prospect victims.
The Justice Department also established through court testimony that Mr Ramsammy played a role in the assassination of journalist Ronald Waddell. Yet, in spite of his appalling criminal reputation, Mr Ramsammy remains a minister of the Guyana government and continues to operate with impunity.
Drug barons who traffic narcotics to the United States currently enjoy significant involvement in the economic life of Guyana. Most are wanted by the United States but operate in plain view of President Ramotar and his government. These alleged fugitives from US justice remain unapprehended by ostensibly financing President Ramotar’s ruling PPP’s political operations and allegedly supplying illegal weapons to their political supporters.
Guyana already has the dubious reputation as a transshipment hub for drugs to the USA. Political turmoil strengthens the hands of the narco-traders, arms dealers and human traffickers.
We believe that the situation in Guyana portends a clear and present danger to United States vital national security interests.
Consequently, we urge the immediate consideration of sanctions; including the freezing of the assets of the ruling clique, who in spite of their notorious criminal enterprises, enjoys the acquisition of assets and bank accounts in the United States.
Yours sincerely,
Rickford Burke, LL.M.
President, Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)
