Dear Editor,
I would like to congratulate Mr. John Melvin Jones on his appointment to the substantive post of United States Ambassador to Guyana. From his resume, he seems to be an overqualified candidate for the job (I thought there must have been a misprint about Mr. Jones’ experience and qualification). Over the past decade or so, the US’ diplomatic efforts with Guyana have primarily centred on issues of drug trafficking and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention and even though we’ve had some qualified Ambassadors in the past, they all pale in comparison to Mr. Jones.
Mr. Jones is a national defence specialist who has served in Iraq and participated as the State Department’s representative on an anti-terrorist board.
With terrorism being the chief foreign policy issue for the US, one is curious to know: What is Mr. Jones doing here in Guyana?
I have come up with two possible explanations for this; it could be that Guyana is simply a retirement destination for Ambassadors who are in the twilight of their distinguished careers or it can be viewed as an indication of the changing geo-political realities in the world.
I put more faith in the latter. Russia’s defiance of the West and its inclination to provide support to adversaries of the US is emerging as a serious threat to the security of the US.
This evolving threat is viewed by the American security apparatus not as distinct from terrorism, but as one that is complementary. In this regard and with the recent joint naval exercise between Russia and Vene-zuela and President Chavez’s expulsion of the US Ambas-sador from Venezuela, the US is compelled to devote more attention to regional defences.
I hope the security dimension does not consume all of Mr. Jones time during his tenure. I believe that much work is to be done on the commercial front.
The Kaieteur News quoted him as saying that he is interested in promoting investments in Guyana. I welcome this development.
Over the years, while much attention has been placed on social initiatives, I cannot recall any major business initiative (correct me if I’m wrong). The current Economic Officer, Mr. James Plasman, seems to be very proactive and genuine in his convictions to see more US investors coming to Guyana and vice-versa.
Guyana has enormous potential and its coastal location, English language, low labour costs, relative ease of setting up a business, etc… are just a few advantages of doing business here.
The challenge is how to effectively market this potential to US businesspersons. This marketing challenge should primarily be left to the Government of Guyana to execute, but with limited resources and no definitive strategy of actively pursuing investors (at present, we wait for investors to stumble upon us and make the first approach), the US Embassy, working in collaboration with the local private sector, should provide much needed leadership and initiative.
But before we talk about any business partnership, the US Embassy has to review and bring about change to the unfair and discriminatory way in which non-immigrant visa interviews are handled (I have dealt with this subject extensively in a previous letter titled, “New system for issuing US visas requires acting skills” (SN August 17, 2008). Even if the review has to be limited to the issuance of B1 commercial visas; such action would indicate a level of earnestness and seriousness about promoting trade and business between our countries.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
