Dear Editor,

It grieves my heart to see my fellow Guyanese brothers and sisters suffer yet another blow as they continue their long wait for a prosperous and democratic state. One would have thought that after 28 years in the wilderness, the PPP more than any other organization would understand the importance of a strong and independent media. This move along with other actions and the current behaviour of the PPP make me wonder if its fight to remove the PNC from office in the first place was out of a genuine effort to offer the people of Guyana better governance, or if was all out of mere envy of not being the ones in power.

Whatever the reason I think it is contemptuous of the administration to tell taxpayers that they will not invest their tax dollars in the most respected newspaper in Guyana to which thousands subscribe. This is an abuse of power for which the government does not have a mandate.

My fellow Guyanese, whatever your political persuasion this move has brought Guyana one step closer to dictatorship, and so it must not be tolerated. We need to preserve the rights that others lost their lives to give us. This is the only way you will guarantee your freedom and liberties.

I wish to share with you the following two quotations:

“Our liberty depends on freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

-Thomas Jefferson

“Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.”

-Walter Cronkite

And I wish to close with my own quotation:

“Under this regime you are free to say whatever you like – as long as you are prepared to face the consequences.”

It would appear that the Guyanese struggle continues.

Yours faithfully,

Artie Ricknauth