OPINION: Guyana must get real with Suriname, no pushover anymore

Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 22:40 by Writer

By GHK Lall

The Guyana Government, Guyanese leaders, and the Guyanese people had better come quickly to their senses about Suriname. If not, these drip-by-drip intrusions will continue from Paramaribo, leaving this country looking like a global pushover, a certified patsy. Pres. Ali has to get his head in the right place, so he can get his act together, do what benefits this country, enhances its dignity. Guyana can’t be the richest country globally, but remain the weakest. A punching bag for other countries to attack continually, while content to hang passively, give off hollow sounds whenever slapped.

The latest Surinamese adventure in aggravation is to impose a tribute on vessels plying the Corentyne River. Tribute, or toll, fee or levy, it is a shakedown by Suriname. Suriname is neighbor and partner, or it’s an extortioner, a lowdown usurper. Not for the first time. Recall fishing licenses for Guyanese. Call to mind Guyanese nationals trekking the seas for a living, but caught, locked up, and held to virtual ransom. Go back and dig up the New River Triangle, and I have had enough of Suriname. Why is this relationship so one-sided, with Guyana always holding onto the jagged end of the stick? When Guyana always comes out a loser, it is not a respectful, honest, and dignified relationship from the Suriname side. Pres. Ali can bury his head wherever pleases him, but the less that Guyana has to do with Suriname, the better it is for this country. Until such time that Suriname’s leaders come to their senses and discern that Guyana is not to be taken for granted, not to be pushed around, the PPP Govt should have little dealings with this rogue neighbor.

Pres. Ali is on the wrong track when he talks about partnering with Suriname to construct a bridge across the Corentyne. Not when Suriname drums up charges against Guyanese fishermen, drums up ways to make money off the backs of Guyanese, then beats a drum about neighborly relationship with the Guyanese people. Like hell there is. This is the worst way that Suriname can think of to express its credentials as a trusted friend, one that can be partnered with for such a large capital project as an international bridge. I don’t trust these folks. Frankly, I don’t see them as a good neighbor, but a scammer and a skimmer. Take a fee now, separate from a dollar tomorrow. What will it announce afterwards? A special tax on its residents of Guyanese origins?

As a courtesy to Excellency Ali, scrap visions and talks about that bridge. Can’t have it when this is the temperature. Don’t want it when this is the pulse of the environment. And when leaders in Suriname continue to manifest a tendency to find ways to reach into Guyanese purses, and make them lighter, then it is time for time for Pres. Ali to change course, show what he is made of, and do not retreat. The PPP Govt can strong-arm Guyanese that it finds objectionable in the manner that punks do. Thus, the same PPP Govt leadership must exhibit the same strongman power projection and stand up against Suriname overreach. Otherwise, the PPP is a punk in the domestic realm, but a pitiful pussycat (clawless and toothless [no bark, no spring in the step]) when international duty calls.

The fee is an overreach. No bridge. Open piracy on open waters. No bridge. Why do business, Dr. Ali, with people of that kind? To this point, different governments in this neighboring territory at different times have pushed a gun up into Guyana’s nose. When have leaders in this country (other than Burnham) stood up, rolled back their fists, and stepped forward against various Surinamese assaults on Guyana’s dignity? To Pres. Ali, this is respectfully offered: when a man or a country operates like a coward, that is what others see: a sniveling, groveling coward. Guyana no longer should be led, as though it is some pathetic poor relation to be pitied. Over and gone are those days. Instead of lodging complaints, get up and get in people’s face. If not an inch of Essequibo, why a gallon and fathom of river unless a dollar paid in the East? Unless, of course, the army, national guard, and PPP militia are reserved for undesirables who rub Guyana’s leaders raw.