OPINION: US concerns re Mohamed: is the nuclear option next up?

Last Updated on Friday, 25 July 2025, 21:44 by Writer

By GHK Lall

The US Government has spoken, drawn its line. Concerned. Extremely so. Unless Excellency Nicole D. Theriot has gone rogue (extremely unlikely), is now manifesting maverick tendencies, the word came from heaven (Washington) – the potential presence in government quarters of WIN’s Mohamed unleashes the concerning. Surprising that the US had that say, made this chap a bigger box-office draw. At least, piqued more local interest. I expect that from the PPP, but not the US. Now that the US has shown its hand, what is its follow-up, its Plan B?

Clearly, Dr. Jagdeo’s gambit has power. Be servile to Exxon, and the US sees the PPP in the best profile. The US has the goods on the appalling, unequalled depravity and criminality of the PPP, but Jagdeo is good to Exxon, so the US must be good to Jagdeo. What is good for Exxon is good for America. Well done, Mr. Jagdeo. Now that Mohamed brings a chill to the US, what is it going to do next? Use the nuclear option, and make a request? Ah, Anil is waiting and I note developments in the judiciary. Stars aligned. Angels in place, one in particular. Trust me, folks, I can differentiate between angels and demons. I am young again, and relearning history. Remember Jagan.

Cheddi Jagan was bad for business. What Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam were to the paddy fields of Southeast Asia, that’s what Jagan and Guyana represented to the oil fields of South America. Forbes Burnham thought he was smarter than a three-dollar bill, but he had his utilities. Out goes Jagan, thanks to the Dukes in DC. Up comes the better Burnham, Bharrat J, who also believes that he is trickier than an anaconda and better at camouflage. Whence goes Mohamed, according to the wizards in Washington?

Ideology led to Jagan’s sanctions. Perversity (allegedly) by Mohamed attracts US sanctions. Parallels and precedents: do they mean that Mohamed is also out? People wiser than I say that the days of American interfering in and influencing local elections are over. They said the same thing relative to the Great Game and the Cold War. What did the late, great Dave Martins sing? Wasn’t it, ‘who’s civilized an’ who’s de jackass?’ That can be taken all the way to the CCJ, or the US Supreme Court.

Okay, Jagan was sent into outer darkness. So, where is Mohamed going to go? In the wild ole days, there were Allende and Mossadegh, but those were the Dark Ages of American exceptionalism. The question lingers, that US fallback option re Mohamed and concerns about being the wrong man in the right place. What’s next for him, and whereto, American Airlines? I am distressed that Ambassador Theriot forced me to walk on tiptoe in this minefield full of venomous snakes. And while I am wearing army boots, as if to double my trouble. Thanks for nothing, Excellency. Why do I get the hard jobs in this country? Here is my bottom line: US concerns, having been articulated, can’t be left hanging in midair. It will run out of gas sometime. Or go higher, change direction, and head to a different point on the travel map. Considering the territories that Mr. Mohamed has covered, and the grassroots appeal he has generated, in a regular country there would be agitated reactions and mass objections. I shouldn’t have to furnish any address. But there are two prime candidates, at least.

Shining the spotlight on Mohamed the Younger (I have little regard, absolutely no use, for the other up there), the US says that he is a baad man. He has to battle that branding. The same US also knows that there are some real bad men in government in this country, and what does it do? Cocktail parties, handshakes, toasts, and those nine yards. I can only imagine how Ambassador Theriot feels after those handshakes. Lady Macbeth’s lament flits across the memory screen. Oh, these hands, these hands…. The things that some have to do for God and country! I know, just look at me. The choice for the US is stark: take Mohamed out, or take Mohamed as he comes. Into government; at least, into parliament. He will. Unless, the US triggers its Plan B (it may be C) and changes the course of Guyana’s history again. Plan B involves airline miles.

I am tired writing forcefully about my fellow Americans. I save my last word for my fellow Guyanese. Why are so few standing up and speaking up about rank intruding and meddling in the domestic affairs of Guyana? Why is there this blanket of fear, and grim, stoic silence when Guyana’s so-called democracy is being destabilized? May God (or whoever is left that cares) bless Guyana. The same goes for America.