Dear Editor,
I happen to be an ardent listener to radio 560AM, from 9pm to 4am each and every night. On the 16th September, 2014, I heard President Ramotar delivering an address to the Amerindian community about his heritage. I was pleased to hear of his mixed birth and have always thought that President Ramotar was a fine fellow. But why he chose to follow the ravings and rantings of the Jagdeo regime is beyond me. Quite truthfully, he told the gathering that the PNC regime spent more money on foreign affairs than on any other section of the economy solely with the express purpose of impressing people overseas.
Whether more money was spent or not was not necessarily important. First off, there was little or no money during Burnham’s term of office. The IMF and the World Bank saw to that. Prawns were shipped to embassies to be sold abroad so as to meet their expenses. This money was put into a special account, the account number of which C Grant and a minister knew.
The Venezuelan threat to three fifths of Essequibo was self evident and a real and present danger to all of us in Guyana. Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty were assaulted. It was fine and it was timely for Burnham to solicit the support of all small and large nations at the UN, the Commonwealth, the AU, the OAS, NAM and Caricom. Collective security turned out to be an effective and formidable defence against the travails of Venezuelan aggression. This was effected successfully by Fred Wills, Shridath Ramphal, Rashleigh Jackson, Cedric Grant, Rudy Insanally and all the fine delegates at Foreign Affairs. Guyana’s diplomacy became a thing of admiration for the world to see for a prolonged period of time. Had it not been so, we might have all been speaking Spanish today, Ramphal would not have been Commonwealth Secretary General, Insanally President of the General Assembly and a tiny nation like ours having a non-permanent seat twice in ten years on the Security Council. Not to mention being the chair for the UN Council for Namibia, a unit designed to fight for the virtually enslaved people of sub-Saharan Africa. These were remarkable achievements in Burnham and Jagan’s tenure. I say ‘well done.’ This was a costly exercise that made the Venezuelans back off. Let the truth be told. I am not by any means espousing the cause of the PNC, but President Ramotar has always spoken the truth; please continue to do so.
Yours faithfully,
Oliver Hinckson
