Last Updated on Friday, 6 October 2023, 4:03 by Denis Chabrol
Senior members of Guyana’s parliamentary opposition meeting with several Democratic Congressional members in Washington DC.
Several Congressional Democrats have promised to lobby governments in the Caribbean to push the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) and the opposition to join hands in ensuring no Guyanese is discriminated against in the delivery of the country’s wealth.
“We will continue to engage with our Guyanese counterparts and other regional neighbors and encourage the government and the opposition to work together to ensure that all Guyanese citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from the growth underway in the South American nation,” House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said late Thursday night. Guyana’s economic growth is largely centered around oil exploration and production.
In confirming that he and other Congressional Democrats with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security and other critical issues to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn and across the United States met with a delegation led by Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, Mr Jeffries made no mention about the Guyanese politicians’ calls for a clean or new voters list and the biometric verification systems at polling stations. There are hundreds of thousands of mainly Afro-Guyanese who live in Brooklyn.
Among those who met with the Guyanese delegation late last month in Washington DC were Congressional members Maxine Waters, Gregory Meeks, Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, and Stacy Plaskett. They were among several others who had earlier September met with President Irfaan Ali and his delegation.
Describing the discussion with the Guyanese opposition parliamentarians as “important and timely”, Mr Jeffries said the delegations from both sides focused “on a vision for a Guyanese economy and a society that is inclusive, developed and equitable for everyone, including the Afro-Guyanese community.”
He noted that the members of the opposition underscored the importance of lifting people out of poverty by ensuring economic growth, promoting infrastructure development and strengthening democratic institutions. Mr Jeffries said the Opposition Leader also expressed concern with racial inequalities that he felt needed to be addressed and the importance of equal protection under the law for all Guyanese.
The mainly Indo-Guyanese backed Guyana government has maintained that it does not discriminate against the largely Afro-Guyanese opposition.
Mr Norton’s delegation in the talks also included People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) General Secretary, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman, Cathy Hughes; AFC General Secretary, Sherod Duncan and PNCR Executive members, Roysdale Forde (Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs), Amanza Walton-Desir (Shadow Foreign Minister), Ganesh Mahipaul (Public Accounts Committee member and Shadow Local Government Minister) and AFC executive members Ricky Ramsaroop and Sherod Duncan.
