Dear Editor,
Earlier this week, The House unanimously affirmed its position on Guyana’s sovereignty over the Essequibo. It was a bipartisan approach and a united front that is unstoppable, given the circumstances. However, this did not stop the Opposition Leader from taking a few jabs at the Government, as well as lead Caricom Prime Minister Mia Mottley on certain statements she made.
The Opposition Leader, as the opportunist he is, did not mince words as he made a last-ditch effort to lash out at the two entities. On the Government, he was having the usual grumblings about the influx of refugees from Venezuela. In his biased view, those refugees translate into votes for the PPP/C to come to the next election, an act that would make his chances of winning the election a remote possibility.
This move is giving the Opposition Leader sleepless nights. But let me allay Norton’s fears: in the first place, your party never – and I repeat, never – won an election, even in the heyday of Burnham’s rigging; so his undue concern that refugees are coming here to vote is a delusional thought on his part.
Further, a sizeable number – 80%, to be exact – are returning Guyanese, or second-generation Guyanese who are returning home because of the hardships in Venezuela. We cannot turn our backs on our own people, sir. You must remember that many of us, yours truly, sought refuge in other people’s countries when his very own PNC chased us out during those harsh times. Guyanese are in every habitable place in the known world, thanks to the PNC and its draconian governance policies. So, Mister Norton, you need to hush up with that delusional nonsense talk of yours!
On the Barbadian Prime Minister’s charge, Norton is griping over the statements she made. Miss Mottley stated that “Guyana and Venezuela need to maintain the region as a zone of peace.” Now, this is an innocuous statement, which in simplistic terms means that she would like the two neighbours to settle their differences in an amicable and peaceful manner, and live as good neighbours should. Let the region maintain that peaceable ambiance that it is known for.
This did not go down well with Norton, because he took issue with the statement. But why Norton would take umbrage with that statement is anybody’s guess. You would recall that it was Mia Mottley who led four others of her counterparts into Guyana during that disgraceful period of PNC rigging. She was here to help talk some sense into the PNC Leadership: that rigging is a shameful undertaking which portrays the region in a terrible light. “The thing looks bad.”
But Norton could not care less with what a bad image would cause the region. His concern only centred around the point that Mia was “meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.”
So there is reason for him to be annoyed with Mia, but we are not careful to know of his feelings, we are concerned with the rule of law and what constitutes the democratic will of the people; that’s all that matters.
So, I close with a message to Mr Norton and that desperate tabloid that shores up his image: Do not bring your sordid political nonsense into our territorial dispute with Venezuela? We want a vigorous, united approach to this external threat. In this regard, we will pursue the legal route with all sincerity to its final resolution. Long live a united Guyana!
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
