…say they did not bargain for sanctions
As the threats of sanctions by the major western powers, especially the US, become increasingly certain on account of the APNU/AFC/GECOM combine’s obdurate refusal to allow the election results to be determined in a transparent process as demanded by the law, various individuals and groups who had supported the coalition financially in their re-election campaign are now demanding that they change their stance immediately.
Several of these individuals, including a pharmacy owner, a real estate developer, a city car dealer, a contractor from East Coast , a rice miller and a gold miner have reached out to the Guyana Times after it published its story on sanctions in its March 15, 2020 edition, “Sanctions loom over persons stymieing elections resolution”.
They claimed, in the aggregate that the Guyana Times compiled, that they gave the APNU and especially the AFC hundreds of millions of dollars. But that was for the elections campaign and they never expected that the coalition would go to the lengths they have done to rig the elections. They spoke with growing apprehension of being ensnared when sanctions kicked in.
The article had stated, “typically, US sanctions on individuals would begin with removal of their visa privileges, seizures of assets in the US, a freeze on bank accounts. These sanctions would extend to the families of these individuals.
Last Thursday the US had its starkest warning to the Guyanese election authorities, which last Thursday warned that they should “follow accepted procedures and allow international observers to verify the results”. The State Department cautioned that “under US Law and Practice, those who participate and benefit from electoral fraud, undermine democratic institutions and impede a peaceful transition of power can be subject to a variety of consequences.”
