Editorial

We in Guyana, as against citizens in other Caribbean states, will certainly have had a more intense interest in Latin American affairs recently, as the governments in our two neighbours, Brazil and Venezuela, have been facing substantial challenges, deriving largely from declines in their economies.

The first stanza of the long-awaited negotiations between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on wages and salaries for public servants has not gone well.

When oil and gas revenue becomes available in the next five or six years there will be a long list of priorities to address including matters like public service wages currently facing the government.

A letter appeared in this newspaper on Thursday which relayed an account of conversations between lawyers and former senior GDF officers in the diaspora about the need to seek a modification in the role of the army and a change in the law so it could “assist in investigations and other crime-solving activities.”

Two months after a failed coup the Turkish government continues to exploit vague threats of further plots to jail its critics and deepen its hold on the country’s institutions.

Workplace safety incidents have been an issue in Guyana for a number of years, a consequence of employers and employees not following safety guidelines, but the burden of responsibility mostly rests on employers who, in the pursuit of profits, do so at the expense of the health and safety of their workers.

When 41-year-old Akola Wayne fell in her yard at Melanie Damishana and broke her leg just over a week ago, she possibly considered that she would be inactive for a while.

Ongoing polls in the course of the United States presidential elections campaign generally show Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by a margin not dramatic enough to decisively state that she is already home and dry.

It was always likely that the negotiations between the government and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) over increases in public servants’ wages, salaries and allowances might, at some stage, hit hurdles and that is exactly what now appears to be the case.

The cringe-worthy apology of the Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton on Friday over the bond scandal demonstrates the APNU+AFC government’s complete unwillingness to hold its senior officials accountable and to take condign action.

The government has found itself in a few scandals since coming into office, but none has been more corrosive to its image than the drug bond contract.

The long-awaited treaty that may finally end Colombia’s 50-year civil conflict is a study in perseverance.

‘Vigilante justice’ is defined as the ‘extrajudicial punishment’ of an individual and is usually driven by the absence of functioning system of law and order, or general dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the justice system by the populace.

On Monday last, the body of 14-year-old Akeem Grimmond was found in a drain some 300 feet away from his home; he had been suffocated and a man has since been held in connection with his murder.

A call by Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart  to his Democratic Labour Party supporters not to “jump ship”, and advice to voters to rally once again in the party’s support, suggest that he is beginning to feel confident that the difficult days of economic reform for Barbados are coming to an end, and that his party can begin the task of pulling back those alienated by the harsh economic policies which his government, on the advice of the international financial institutions, has felt it necessary to pursue since the last elections of February 2013.

At the conclusion of South Africa’s recent local government poll the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lodged a formal objection in response to its loss in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, the province that had produced party stalwarts like Nelson Mandela, the icon of the liberation struggle as well as legends like Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki and Raymond Mhlaba.

As the life of this administration progresses, the public will have an excellent opportunity to test the promises of the APNU+AFC government and evaluate the efficacy of its policies.

This year’s Caribbean Education Secondary Certficate (CSEC) results presented the nation with the expected crop of high-flyers, led by Ms Fatima Karim, with 20 astonishing passes, 19 of them Grade Ones.

A triple-double sounds more like an ice-cream order than the summary of a sprinter’s Olympic career – but that is what Usain Bolt achieved two nights ago, shortly after the evening drizzle eased up in Rio.

One year before the 2015 general elections were held, few Guyanese might have been familiar with the name ‘Sandra Granger’.