Dear Editor,
The smiling PM of St Vincent as Guyana and Venezuela exchange gifts instead of the words related to Essequibo makes a nice picture. The rum though, Guyana gave rum to Venezuela. The AFP reported that “Ali gave a bottle of rum and a medal of his country to Maduro, who offered a box full of Venezuelan products in return. “Peace and love!” Maduro told him in English. “
Peace and Love… maybe alcohol in Venezuela contributes to peace and love… but we see how alcohol makes hatred worse.
Is the Government of Guyana committed to showing Guyana’s alcohol culture to the world? The box of Venezuelan products might have contained alcohol too, but this point of Guyana’s President saying to the world, this is what Guyana has to offer… what is this dependence on alcohol in this current administration? What is Guyana and the Caribbean really showing to the world? What happened to the tradition of giving the art and other more sustainable gifts? Or do we expect this peace to only last as long as it takes to drink the bottle of rum?
And while this week, the CARICOM heads denounced violence in lyrics, including violence against women, they do not seem to get right how to fix the systemic issues which make the market for such lyrics. The musicians and those who produce the music find a Caribbean population which wants to dance to violence as a way it might seem of healing from the violence. And add alcohol to the party to make it even better.
Yours sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
