Business and Economic Commentary by Christopher Ram
Long admired as a model non-aligned small country, Guyana now finds that image replaced by a photograph from the recent Trump-sponsored “Shield of the Americas” summit in Florida. President Irfaan Ali appeared prominently among the leaders assembled by the United States and spoke of the need for change in Cuba so that democracy and improved conditions could be achieved for the Cuban people.
What was notable about those remarks was what they did not contain. There was not a word about the economic embargo that the United States has imposed on Cuba for more than sixty years – an embargo that CARICOM governments have consistently condemned as unjust and harmful to the Cuban people. Nor anything about the rendition of the leader of a Caribbean country or the killing of citizens of the region.
The comments also appeared to signal something else: that countries in the region are expected to reconsider, nay discontinue, their relationships with traditional partners. For the Caribbean, those partners include countries that have supported the region for decades.
Cuba is one of those partners. For decades Cuban doctors, teachers and technicians have worked across the Caribbean. Thousands of Caribbean students – including hundreds of Guyanese – have received professional education in Cuban universities in medicine, engineering and agricultural science.
Grenada offers a vivid example of the complexities that sometimes accompany relations between small states and larger powers. During the People’s Revolutionary Government, Cuban workers helped build the island’s first, and still only, international airport. When that government collapsed in October 1983, the United States invaded Grenada, an intervention carried out at the “request” of Governor-General Paul Scoon and supported by Prime Ministers Tom Adams of Barbados, Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Edward Seaga of Jamaica. More than four decades later Grenada remains closely aligned with Washington’s position on Cuba, even as it continues to rely on China for infrastructure and on Cuba for training of its budding professionals.
For Guyana, China represents a different but equally significant relationship. For more than two decades Chinese financing and technical cooperation have contributed to major infrastructure projects including the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Marriott hotel, the new Demerara River Bridge, major roadworks and river ferries, projects that were otherwise beyond our country’s reach.
Those accepting Trump’s invitation are now expected to review their relationships with such partners. This reflects a familiar expectation: that America’s competitors – and enemies – must also become our competitors – and enemies. Yet what does the United States offer in return? It has cut programmes once provided to poor countries across the world, including the Caribbean, through USAID and the Peace Corps, while its current leadership speaks casually of wars and engages in the assassination or rendition of foreign leaders, all in violation of international law.
There is nothing inherently objectionable about foreign investment. Guyana has long depended on external capital and expertise to develop its natural resources. The question arising from Ali’s Florida visit is whether Guyana is being asked to distance itself from certain old friends while deepening its dependence on new ones.
Such questions are not merely theoretical. Guyana’s rapidly expanding petroleum industry has elevated its strategic importance within the hemisphere, and countries that suddenly discover valuable natural resources tend to attract considerable attention from larger powers.
At the same time, the President’s remarks in Miami about democracy in Cuba invite reflection on democracy at home. The Sunday Stabroek News editorial of March 8 observed that “there is something about remaining in power too long which disconnects incumbents from reality and causes them to incline towards autocratic modes of governance.” It also reminded readers that democracy “means more than free and fair elections” and depends on functioning institutions and respect for the rule of law.
Those observations resonate with developments in Guyana’s own political environment. Delays in convening Parliament following the September 1 elections, the failure to establish parliamentary committees in a timely manner, the unresolved leadership of Region Ten and the continuing absence of substantive appointments to the offices of Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice all raise legitimate questions about the functioning of democratic institutions.
Equally troubling are the Ali administration’s attempts to dominate democratic space and exert influence over institutions intended to operate independently. Its selective regard for the rule of law – access to information being an egregious example – and its appointment of individuals and institutions to frustrate democratic processes raise further concerns in areas such as environmental regulation, procurement oversight, state audit and transparency initiatives including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Guyana must inevitably engage with powerful partners. The United States remains an important trading partner and a significant source of investment, and constructive engagement with Washington is both natural and desirable.
In his final term, President Ali – a relative newcomer to international diplomacy – appears eager to build a profile on the global stage. As former President Jagdeo did quite successfully, there is nothing unusual about such ambition. But repositioning Guyana within the geopolitical landscape of the hemisphere would represent one of the most consequential foreign-policy pivots since independence, and it should therefore be approached with caution. Jagdeo did not go that far.
As Henry Kissinger once observed, “To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend can be fatal.” In cultivating new friendships, President Ali would do well not to forget the value of those old friendships – or the importance of preserving Guyana’s independence and sovereignty in the process.