Washington fact-checks PPP propaganda machine twice in one month

Since the announcement of the Washington Conference on Guyana, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has been on the defensive, mounting a public relations campaign to counter perceived narratives that might emanate from the eminent Conference. The fact that Guyana’s Parliamentary Opposition would be engaging Capitol Hill’s hierarchy simultaneously only saw the PPP ramping up its effort, taking a sizable portion of its Cabinet to meet with key US officials, including a long-coveted meeting with Democratic Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

But its foray directly into Washington politics has not been without major missteps, as the ruling party has attempted to project itself on the world stage as a serious contender bolstered no doubt by Guyana’s new-found oil wealth. One of its major miscalculations, however, has been in assuming it can speak on behalf of Washington in the absence of any official statements from officials there. Case in point, after the Government of Guyana meeting with US Congressmen, including Hakeem Jeffries, it said he did not raise “any issue on racial discrimination nor the inequitable distribution of wealth” in Guyana, Demerara Waves reported Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud as saying.

The Congressman, however, later put out a statement, “During the meeting we discussed several critical issues, including regional and energy security, the climate crisis and the importance of an inclusive society in Guyana that involved full economic participation and civic engagement by Guyanese-Africans and Guyanese-Indians. We also discussed electoral reform, strengthening democratic institutions and the need to bolster access to banking and financial services in the Caribbean region.” It was embarrassing for the Ali/Jagdeo administration which does not seem to have regained its footing.

Additionally, last Thursday, Guyana’s Vice President, in a press conference, told the nation the meeting Parliamentary Opposition’s meeting with the US Congressmen never took place. VP Jagdeo said, “I saw the pictures of them walking through like tourists through Capitol Hill. Now, Capitol Hill, anybody can go there. You can go, you can go there, you buy a ticket and you go in. You can walk through those halls. They allow tours, conducted tours. And that’s what they did. Like they had some, a lot of conducted tours on the corridors. They were taking, snapping pictures.”

A short time later on the very day, Congressman Jeffries put out a statement on social media’s Facebook. According to Jeffries, “Last week, I hosted a meeting with Aubrey Norton, M.P. the Opposition Leader and members of the parliamentary opposition of the Republic of Guyana. Several leading congressional Democrats with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security, and other critical issues to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn and across the United States joined us for this important and timely discussion.”

The statement said, “In the meeting, we discussed a vision for a Guyanese economy and a society that is inclusive, developed and equitable for everyone, including the Afro-Guyanese community. The members of the opposition underscored the importance of lifting people out of poverty by ensuring economic growth, promoting infrastructure development and strengthening democratic institutions. The opposition leader also expressed concern with racial inequalities that he felt needed to be addressed and the importance of equal protection under the law for all Guyanese.”