Guyana is oft
forgotten. As a middling Caribbean state notable for being the only English
speaking nation in South America, as well as one of the poorest countries in
the hemisphere, Guyana has rarely received much in the way of global attention.
That has rapidly changed. US Secretary of State Pompeo paid the first official
US visit to the nation of just under 800,000 people last month. Secretary
Pompeo was not there to marvel at the world-class wildlife and nature (which
the editorial staff at The Thiébault Blog has long wanted to experience) but
was presumably much more preoccupied with Guyana’s 8 billion+ barrels of recently
discovered oil reserves (not to mention Guyana’s potential as a bulwark against
neighbouring Venezuela).
There is much in to be
optimistic about for the future of Guyana. Since 2015, when a consortium led by
ExxonMobil discovered that aforementioned 8 billion barrels of oil, the
groundwork was laid for Guyana to reach an oil output of 1.1 million barrels by
2030, rivaling the per capita output of the Gulf states. This is the kind of
boon that any lower-income country would dream of and holds the promise of
lifting hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty, should it not be
squandered. The prospect of it being squandered is unfortunately cause for
grave concern.
Guyana’s history since
Colonialism has been frequently marred by ethnic ructions and violence. These
came to a head in the early 2000s but have thankfully been abated in recent
history. The discovery of oil and a hotly contested election have however led
to some recent spasms of ethnically tinged violence. The two predominant
political forces in Guyana see their support largely drawn on ethnic lines.
PPP/Civic, which won this year’s election, is dominant among Indo-Guyanese
while the outgoing APNU/AFC is generally the Afro-Guyanese party of choice. The
election has not been without contention, it took months before the election
was finally resolved with a curiously partisan Chief Electoral Officer,
election irregularities and suspicious arrests (especially of said Chief
Electoral Officer in recent days on complaints of “private citizens”). That
being said, the Caribbean Community, along with the UK and US intervened and a
recount was conducted, which helped ensure the rightful victor took the reigns
and a peaceful handover of power occurred.
The future is fraught
however, in recent days three teenagers have been killed in what seems to be
ethnically motivated violence. Isaiah and Joel Henry were two afro-Guyanese
brothers who went coconut picking and were brutally hacked to death, allegedly
by an Indo-Guyanese farmer. In retaliation, Afro-Guyanese protesters ambushed a
young Indo-Guyanese man Haresh Singh and beat him to death. This ethnic
acrimony, made worse by a hotly contested election and the potential for grand
oil wealth is being further inflamed by political leadership. In relation to
investigations into this recent violence the Guyana Human Rights Association
stated that “the prevailing poisonous political atmosphere has penetrated the
society to the point where public trust in an impartial investigation is
virtually non-existent.”
So what is the way
forward? Guyana does have some of the requisite institutions, violence has
largely been tempered the past couple of decades because grievances were dealt
with in court instead of through violent clashes. The constitution provides for
an “Ethnic Relations Commission” whose express purpose is to promote ethnic
harmony. The Caribbean Community also acted admirably in effectively intervening
and pushing the smooth transition of power. Still, political leadership needs
to do much more to dampen ethnic strife and some institutions need bolstering.
Newly elected President Ali has stated that he rules for all Guyanese, much
more needs to be done to assuage concerns that this may not be the case.
In addition to the
ethnic component, another key election issue concerned the deal inked with
ExxonMobil for the rights to drill in the offshore reserves. There are very legitimate
concerns that the outgoing government was taken advantage of and negotiated a
deal which sees far too little of the money from oil going into government
coffers. Secretary Pompeo’s visit seems like it was partially to ensure that
Guyana would not try to get any more out of the generous deal for ExxonMobil.
While it is true that Guyana needs to demonstrate an investment friendly
climate, getting fleeced is not a precondition to this. US involvement has not
always been an unadulterated net positive, stemming from CIA meddling in the
country’s independence movement in the 1960s. Secretary Pompeo’s lobbying on
behalf of ExxonMobil does not appear particularly helpful.
Guyana’s future holds
immense promise, its people deserve to see this potential attained. There is
the real possibility for the development of a wealthy and harmonious nation
with many people lifted out of poverty, let’s hope these benefits are
fully realized in the world’s newest emerging energy superpower.
