OPINION: Chair Smith reacted honorably, graciously

Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, 15:56 by Written By Denis Chabrol

By GHK Lall

I tip my hat to the Barima Commission of Inquiry Chair, Justice Godfrey Smith. This is how real men differentiate themselves. Under duress from the U.S. visa revocation action meted out against him, he offered his resignation. Some of the qualms I had of this Belizean jurist, I now ease, even relinquish. In contrast, what I think about Pres Ali and his decision to reject Justice Smith’s offer of resignation is best left unsaid, best left to the imagination. I still help: whatever the absolute worst that I can think of Guyana’s president, he just outdid me. Let that be sufficient. Let me be done talking about those who lower this country below the Marianas trench.

Separately, what were the odds of a member of a national Commission of Inquiry (COI), after believed comprehensive due diligence performed, having his or her U.S. visa revoked? What were the odds of such a well-regarded individual ending up with a commanding seat on a COI into a national tragedy in Guyana, only for their U.S. visa to be revoked? A truly Guyanese tragedy that snuffed out 79 lives, maybe 50 percent more, if the tallying is ever done. What are the odds of the PPP Govt sniffing out, hunting down, then closing in on a member for a COI saddled with the duty of taking a deep dive (almost literally) into the death throes of the MV Barima, only for the U.S. to throw a hammer into that PPP caper with visa revocation? What deep dive could now be essayed, given all that went on before, when there’s a U.S. visa revocation in effect? Inevitably, clouds hover. This is my thinking. Justice Smith did the right thing, a man of standard in a junkyard full of pretenders, jesters.

An American visa revocation is of a privilege yanked. Visa revocation processes are robust, but they aren’t foolproof. I’m banking on the latter. When it happens to a trader in sardines and onions nobody cares, other than the restricted businessperson. When it happens to a luminary, lights go on, lights go out. In the former: how could this happen? Where did the systems fail? What could have been detected, if anything? Reference the lights going out, of what utility can anyone be, what credibility can be delivered, when Americans have a problem? Some problem with someone over some business, some links. With an unappealable final verdict: a public kick in the teeth by America (revocation)? Its agents make it their business to know, and unless tainted, they are usually on the side of right.

So, how is this going to unwind re the Barima COI? How should it? I think that Chairman Smith was honorable and graceful with his stepdown offer. The president’s response confirmed my worst fears about his judgement, his other qualities, if they so measure. My position was known before: the MV Barima COI is a farce, masquerade, and con game being played on family members and unrelated Guyanese. Its author(s) and beginnings infused with cynicism. Then, its lazy, labored energy levels drove deeper the nails of disbelief and dismissal. A COI is about trust. Trust that a clean, comprehensive, and credible job will be conducted. What belief in those now? First, the MV Barima sank. Now the U.S. government sank the Barima COI. Then the PPP Govt sank it still lower.

It was seen as severely deficient, seriously suspect, before. To go on with the charade equals setting up grieving family members with false expectations, juicing them up for a heavy fall. No government, no leader, should be this callous. Scrap this version of the MV Barima COI. Restart with a new one. One with no negative developments from the U.S. government. Recall how the PPP Govt recruited its private sector allies to squeeze several Guyanese, unsanctioned and unrevoked, when the U.S. government net tightened around the Mohamed family. Recall how the PPP Govt hauled Justice Gino Persaud over the coals, and his was only visa review (probably PPP-initiated). Review not revoked. Because the MV Barima COI is of such gravity, is so precariously perched, the slightest unsettling wind can capsize it. I urge the PPP Govt to rethink Chairman Smith’s resignation. Rethink making fools of Guyanese.