Dear Editor,
Mr Persaud makes a number of erroneous assumptions about me and my intentions for writing to criticise the way the US conducts foreign policy and how it processes visa applications in Guyana (The US Embassy is fair with applicants’ SN, September 20). For him, this represents disdain for the embassy and the US government on my part. How he makes such a huge leap in conclusion baffles me.
I am not an American and I live in my home country Guyana, and thus have very little reason to “dislike” the US government as erroneously assumed by Mr Persaud. However, what I don’t endorse is the manner in which non-immigrant visa applications are processed for Guyanese. The method of employing guesswork is not practised by other US embassies overseas. False documentation is not unique to Guyana and occurs all over the world (including in the US), yet citizens of those countries are treated with a higher level of courtesy when applying for such visas.
Moreover and just to make it clear, I have never personally been refused a US non-immigrant visa and last I checked I can travel to the US whenever it necessitates.
I want to thank Mr Balwant Persaud for doing an excellent job of informing me what some of the requirements are for investing in the US. Disappointing to say though, he does not see this as a responsibility of the commercial officers stationed at the embassy. Moreover, contrary to the opinion expressed by Mr Persaud, the Chamber of Commerce represents a conglomerate of significant business interests in Guyana and in my opinion is an important “third party” organization for any foreign mission to liaise with.
As it relates to Mr Persaud’s contention that the US has “the most modern, efficient and effective foreign policy compared to any other country in the world,” I would remind him that it is this same foreign policy machinery that led to ‘evidence‘ that formed the basis for invading Iraq and the non-discovery of weapons of mass destruction, which were surely being hidden by Saddam Hussein’s regime as presented by Colin Powell to the United Nations in 2003.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
