Open Letter to the Congressional Black Caucus

Last Updated on Sunday, 8 October 2023, 10:21 by Denis Chabrol

By Dr. Randolph Persaud, Professor Emeritus

I begin by sending good greetings to the Honorable Chairperson Steven Horsford, and to all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus. My correspondence is warranted because of the incessant efforts by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) based in New York, to insert the politics of Guyana into the dynamic of American electoral politics. I am an American citizen now living in Guyana and feel compelled to provide an objective assessment of the campaign by the CGID to exploit the good graces of the CBC. Please allow me to first introduce myself.

I hold a PhD in Political Science with a specialization in international relations. I was on the faculty at the School of International Service, American University, for twenty-five years, where I am now Professor Emeritus. During my time at American University, I collaborated closely with Professor Clarence Lusane to develop a program on race and international affairs. We started a lecture series in honor of Prof. Ron Walters, whom I had the immense pleasure of meeting.

We had numerous distinguished guests including Congressman John Conyers, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and Julian Bond, among others. As you no doubt know, former US Ambassador to the UN and National Security Adviser Dr. Susan Rice, was also on the faculty of SIS. Professor Robbie Shilliam of John Hopkins University named me as one of the most important scholars who helped to develop a critical approach to international affairs with special emphasis on race and racism. In July 2020, the reputable foreign affairs magazine Foreign Policy published a pathbreaking collection of expert commentaries under the title “Why is Mainstream International Relations Blind to Racism” (https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/03/why-is-mainstream-international-relations-ir-blind-to-racism-colonialism/). Notably, only nine scholars (world-wide) provided commentaries and I was the only one from the United States. I have written extensively on issues of global justice and was a part of the Obama campaigns in Montgomery County, Maryland.

On September 27-28 of this year, the CGID sponsored a conference in Washington DC under the heading of “Combating Racism, Inequality, Injustice and A One Party Ethnocracy in Guyana.” While the event was advertised as open, it was only open to those “invited.” The event was attended by senior members of the People’s National Congress/Reform and the Alliance for Change. The current Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Aubrey Norton headed the PNCR (APNU) team. I understand that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and a few other members of the CBC met with some conference attendees.

Since no one from the current PPPC administration was allowed at the conference, and because monumentally inaccurate information is now being circulated by CGID, I would like to provide some background information as well as some perspectives on contemporary developments in Guyana.

The CGID is a front for political forces in Guyana that have rigged or attempt to rig every election for which they (the PNC/R; APNU-AFC) had oversight. This is a fact that is not denied even by supporters of the CGID-affiliated parties. Commenting on the 2020 National and Regional Elections in Guyana, the late Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados, said he had never seen a “more transparent attempt to rig an election.” The APNU-AFC was in government at the time. During that election, numerous foreign observer missions, including the Cater Center, were ejected.

The PNC led APNU, and AFC continue to make claims of discrimination against Afro-Guyanese and this with special emphasis in the oil and gas sector. The truth of the matter is that absolutely no evidence has ever been presented to substantiate these claims. This point was made abundantly clear by PNC and civil society members themselves, while at the Washington DC conference.

Please take note of the following admissions. The Chief Executive Officer of the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G), Olive Sampson-Cannings, said the following – “When the United States articulates its policy on Guyana, they speak to inclusion. Inclusion has to be measured. We need to collect the data that speaks to where are the gaps. The collection of data is important in order for us to make the case” (Demerara Waves 9/23/2023).

Roysdale Forde, (Shadow Attorney General), admitted that “today, we were requested again to provide data of discrimination and marginalisation by representatives.” Representatives here meant members of the House of Representatives, including, no doubt, members of the CBC. The problem was that Mr. Forde does not have any such data.

Shadow Foreign Minister Hon. Amanza Walton-Desir also admitted that “the provision of empirical data: When we speak, one of the challenges that you have is that they say, ‘where is the information?” Member of Parliament Walton-Desir did not have any “information” on discrimination either.

I would like to urge the CBC to take seriously the clear admission by even the most senior members of the APNU-AFC that there is no evidence of discrimination. This writer has regularly urged the opposition to bring lawsuits against the government if they have a case of discrimination. In fact, sometimes the reverse is true. For instance, right now, Opposition MP, David Patterson, has asked for an investigation into a contract awarded to a company (Tepui Group Inc.) with significant “Black-Afro-Guyanese” ownership. The main reason for the “investigation” is that one of the partners is a critic of the APNU-AFC. (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2023/10/04/mp-calls-for-investigation-into-award-of-865m-contract-to-guyanese-critic/).

I urge the CBC to look at Guyana’s politics through the lens of competition among political parties. In many ways, the political competition here resembles the situation in the US. The PPP support base has a remarkable resemblance to the reasons why African Americans support the Democrats. It is based on the history of the political parties in Guyana. You may appreciate this even more when you consider that the main partner of the PNC-APNU is the AFC which is currently led by an Indian! To boot, the Prime Minister of Guyana, his Excellency Mr. Mark Phillips is Afro Guyanese. What we have here is intense party politics. Since independence, the PPPC has governed Guyana 26 years (1992-2015; 2020- current), while the PNC-APNU did so for 31 years (1966-1992 and 2015-2020).

From the days of Rep. Charles Diggs Jr., through the first African American president in Barack Obama, and now in the heat of some of the most concerted efforts at reversing the victories won through the Civil Rights Movement, the CBC has stood on the right side of history, both at home and abroad. I have no doubt, where Guyana is concerned, it will continue to exercise good judgement based on the historical record and the contemporary evidence. Thank you for your time.

Dr. Randolph Persaud is an Adviser in the Office of the President.