If the PPP really wanted the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism bill (AML/CFT) it would have been passed since 2011 when it had the majority. It is obvious Freedom House is uncomfortable with the bill; therefore, it brought the bill to Parliament just months before the deadline knowing that the opposition will delay its passage. As expected the opposition voted down the bill and attached several demands for its support. In so doing the strategists at Freedom House were able to shift the blame to the opposition and distract from very pressing issues of the day, most notably the depreciation of the Guyana dollar relative to the US$.
The backward economic and foreign policies of the PPP were bound to bring the economy to crisis. These include an asinine foreign policy that places an opportunistic left-wing agenda before the country’s best interests. The PPP has drifted away from the West and moved closer to several tyrannical and kleptocratic regimes around the world. It gambled on a rice barter arrangement with Venezuela just because a populist left-wing government is in power. As it stands, the Venezuelan right-wing, should it depose Mr Maduro, will very likely repeal Petro Caribe, an event that will cause a major shock to the Guyanese economy and several other Caribbean states. Sustaining Petro Caribe at this point depends on the suppression of dissenters in Venezuela. The PPP came out and declared it supports Mr Maduro, thus implicitly supporting the oppression of dissenting voices. If Mr Maduro loses power, the right-wing will create trouble over Essequibo. It is unlikely China
