Dear Editor,
Mr Mohan Singh, in his letter entitled “Lusignan and Bartica are dropping out of the news”, lamented that Buxton received help from the Venezuelan government. He enquired, “I would like to know if that embassy or any other, has given similar assistance to the residents of Lusignan and Bartica to help them deal with the aftermath of the slaughter they endured”.
Mischievously, he stated the Venezuela government gave Buxton money. This is untrue. Food was provided to the almost 80 farmers whose farms have been devastated and who are now struggling to feed their families including many young children. By any measure, what was done was reckless. All that was needed was for the Minister of Agriculture to speak to the farmers and allow them to assist in the clearance instead of the wanton destruction the army was forced to do.
Buxton has been under a state of siege for almost seven years. For Lusignan, which suffered the horrendous loss of 11 lives, a Lusignan Fund was established by a newspaper and this netted over $14 million. Nothing was set up for Bartica and nothing has been set up to deal with the tremendous trauma and debilitating effects of stress on the young and elderly in Buxton over the last seven tears. The health impact on the community has been incalculable and many children are severely traumatised. Many tremble and hide when they see the Joint Forces. Many have lost family members and many have seen their parents humiliated in front of them. Buxton is a severely traumatised community with normal citizens handcuffed, fingerprinted, assaulted, driven to fear by gunfire in the middle of the day and night, and kidnapped. I don’t believe the general population can relate to the type of trauma and long-term damage to health and self-esteem this will result in .Many of the young people have also cultivated hate.
ACDA has been working with the community to bring some relief to the residents. The request for and distribution of food is one of the many ways. ACDA wrote most of the embassies and the Venezuelans thankfully replied with about $100,000 worth of food, which was gratefully accepted.
During the next ten days, ACDA is facilitating the Sisters of Mercy in their attempt to deal with some of the deep trauma in the community, first with children, then with adults followed by youth. Again, the community deeply appreciates this as it tries to normalise itself. This will include some individuals from the Caribbean who were previously here but visited only Lusignan and Bartica.
With regard to the foolish diplomatic tension the government wants to create with Venezuela over foodstuff, I am sure this is more as a reaction to the embarrassment they feel about the stigmatisation and destruction of livelihoods in Buxton than any diplomatic protocol issue. As HPS Dr Luncheon has stated, there is no explicit convention that imposes an obligation for bilateral partners to notify the government of their intention to engage in activities, such as those that the Venezuelans undertook in Buxton.
I hope Foreign Minister Caroline Rodrigues will explain to the Guyanese public how the Venezuelans by giving food to farmers in Buxton will jeopardise the work of the Joint Services. Such statements show contempt for the people of Buxton in particular and contempt for the intelligence of Guyanese. I hope she shows some independence as she is representing a very unjust regime and the world knows this.
In reality, our new Foreign Minister needs to understand diplomacy before she makes accusing statements. Many of the Ambassadors in Guyana have an Ambassador Fund. Do they have to contact the government to tell them they are giving away US$500 in foodstuff? Witness the number of these awards every year in Guyana. No noise.
Why are some people in Guyana so envious and political about anything Africans receive in Guyana. Look at the budget and see which communities get the most money per capita.
These are Indian communities. Then complain to the foreign donors that they didn’t follow proper protocols in discussing it with Opposition Parties.
Food For the Poor, which receives its resources from overseas has made many contributions to many communities. Buxton asked for Christmas hampers for the elderly last December and received a no.
Yearly, the Indian government brings several Indian dance groups to Guyana. There is no noise from Mohan Singh. There are scholarships to India only for Guyanese Indians. There is no noise. There is no reprimand of the Indian government for these things that cost hundreds of times more than the food the Venezuelans provided. The Lusignan Fund is nameless. Who knows if any of the money was from a government?
The stark reality is that many people in Guyana want to believe the propaganda that Buxtonians have no human rights and no feelings. This is the indifference to others I have written so often about. This justifies the inhumane behaviour of the government. The army, unfortunately, has to carry out its orders regardless of the illegality or the fact soldiers are putting their lives and the lives of innocent citizens including women and children at risk.
It is time we react as human beings instead of racial beings in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Phillips
