OPINION: Preferential treatment for America, but what about Guyana?

Last Updated on Saturday, 29 March 2025, 12:42 by Writer

by GHK Lall

What did Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali just do? Much meaning could be attached to the “different and preferential treatment” for the US that was announced by Pres. Ali, which begs this question of how much has he given away under the banner of “different and preferential treatment. Did Pres. Ali just hand the whole of Guyana over to the USA, while affixing the cool label of “different and preferential treatment” to it? The Coalition government handed over virtually all of the oil to Exxon for free, but did President Ali and the PPP Government outdo its rival, by giving away all of Guyana, with the economy of those four fateful words? I predict that they will come back to haunt this country. Remember Manila. Remember I said so in March 2025.

There should be no Guyanese who doesn’t know where I stand with the big Chinese State presence here. My own preference, as often stated publicly, is that if Guyana has to do business with a superpower, then America is the one. But there are limits, as in quid pro quos. More than one. We already have a most one-sided deal with Exxon. This country cannot afford another one with America. Incidentally, a deal with Exxon is tantamount to an ironclad deal with America. Guyana gets next to nothing from Exxon. So, the quite reasonable question is whether Pres. Ali’s “different and preferential treatment” amounts to an abandonment of this country’s sovereignty. A total abandonment. Some Guyanese are already going beyond the US warships floating in a reassuring cordon in Guyana’s waters, and US warplanes hopping about in Guyana’s airspace. The news of a military base from Pres. Ali is being waited upon with bated breath. I can read the wording of that thick and sweet Office of the President script to sell to Guyanese. The right people with the right skills are there. And, and look at the people to whom they have to sell it! There is no easier, softer sell than Guyanese. No hurdle at all. Not even a whimper. Now, that’s a nation rejoicing in having the opportunity to extend “different and preferential treatment” to a special friend. The PNC and AFC just went down the tubes, and so did Guyanese. I am still studying Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelans, who had their lunchbox taken away rather abruptly. Venezuela’s suddenly empty lunchbox is Guyana’s free lunch. Or so Pres. Ali in his wisdom believes, with VP Jagdeo nodding approvingly. Just give this some time, and all will be clearer.

I now go farther afield. Forget about changing the dynamics of the hemisphere/region. America wants to be here, and it will be. In whatever form and substance. Numbers and ordnances galore. A military base is now no longer a remote possibility, a backburner consideration. Relative to all this, I had made my positions clear and public. Here is my holdup: what is Guyana getting in return, other than a Big Brother to stand for it against Venezuelan hostility and Maduro’s belligerence, creeping bellicosity? There has to be more for Guyana, and in recognizable form. Should I interfere with this era of good feeling and mention the name Exxon, and a few dimes more? If not, then my thinking would be justified as to whether this “different and preferential treatment” is not one of those historical stickups for which world powers are noted, and at which the good ole USA is no slouch.

When I hear “preferential treatment” for the US, I detect rather belatedly that I made a mistake. Guyana is now more than the 51st State, or a satellite state, of America. Thanks to Pres. Ali and the PPP Government, Guyana has just reentered the province of a bona fide slave state. Whether a pact or treaty (or not), there is no ratification process here. Nor any stumbling block in the way of this daring and daunting commitment from Pres. Ali. It’s over. Guyana has surrendered its right to be a country controlling its own destiny. I think that President Ali has failed to grasp the entirety of what he signed onto, relinquished. To take this to its logical conclusion, the same could be said for the vice president, the attorney general, and the whole ragtag band of them. The Opposition has been positioning itself as a longstanding friend of the US. The PPP just outran and outflanked it: trust Ali and Jagdeo, for they are the better friends. The best to be found anywhere on the planet. Docile. Doglike. Dumping ground and devil may care with the destiny of generations of Guyanese. And all for the warmth of American assurances about retention of power but rebranded as “preferential treatment” to guarantee security in the face of Venezuelan aggression. Be assured, my fellow Guyanese, that American guarantees do not come free of charge. Simply put, it is how business is conducted by other means. Or to return to Excellency Ali and rope in President Routledge (Alistair, is there another one here?), it is the nature of capitalism in all of its finer points.

The Coalition did it, now the PPP does it again. Guyana peddled by its politicians from hand to hand. Guyana repeatedly sold up the river for a pittance. I wonder who will provide Guyana with a paddle when it is needed.