Dear Editor,
Much has been penned on government lobbying of Washington through a paid lobbyist of over US$65K monthly. I cannot comment on whether it is value for money. I read the lobbying firm has the highest connection with the President who makes policy, including foreign policy towards Venezuela, Guyana, and the Caribbean/Latin region. And right now, Guyana needs Washington to neutralise the threat from Maduro.
America works by lobbying. Guyana needs an effective (both paid and unpaid, voluntary) lobbying movement in Washington and states where Guyanese are concentrated as in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Chicago, etc. Only President Ali and VP Jagdeo would know the effectiveness of the lobbyist; unpublished information suggest that the firm has been very effective in achieving their objectives. One really has to hand it to Jagdeo; he is a master politician and strategist, coming a long way since he left the Presidency in 2011.
The (PPP) government’s hiring of a lobbyist is astute, and its pursuit is a reversal of unsolicited advice proffered since the 1970s by a group of (freedom) activists based in USA. Politicians in Guyana blanked any suggestion from the diaspora on lobbying Washington which had favored the PNC until the collapse of communism in 1989.
Support groups affiliated with governments or opposition parties were never interested in lobbying Washington which was viewed by leftwing (socialist, communist) politicians as imperialist and exploitative; Washington was blamed for toppling the democratic Jagan government, and as such the left wanted nothing to do with Washington. The left never understood concepts like American national interest or the significance of lobbying. And unless one actually studied (or read) American politics, one would not understand the critical importance of lobbying and why the US has seen the left as a threat to its national interests.
As an illustration, as a 17-year-old foreign student pursuing pre-medical studies (majoring in Bio-Chemistry at City College of City University) from 1977, I had no clue about lobbying or national interests, not even about American politics. But I was a pro-Jagan activist without understanding that his socialism was a threat to US interests. It was only after taking courses in American and international politics, I became familiar with how American government works and the relevance of lobbying and why USA would never allow a left-wing PPP socialist party, affiliated with the USSR and East bloc, to govern Guyana. (Jagdeo did right to remove socialism from the PPP).
My colleague, Baytoram Ramharack made the transition from natural sciences to political science a few years before me as I wanted to finish my BS in Bio-Chem before making the switch to Political Science in graduate school for the Masters and Doctorate taking courses on lobbying. Both of us were influenced by Vassan and Rennie Ramracha, theoretician Indian nationalists and political science majors, to switch majors to provide us with requisite skills to champion (pioneer) a struggle for restoration of democratic governance in Guyana. Ramharack quickly mastered international relations, national interests, and how the American political system worked, and he and Vassan set the ball rolling on informally lobbying American politicians through letter writing, rallies, protests, etc. They did the writing of flyers and I the publishing and organising for distribution.
Chuck Mohan, a student senior to us by a few years, and his ACG colleagues, also did a lot of organising and lobbying of the left for PPP. Ramharack and I wrote to politicians (Members of Congress, Jimmy Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., heads of parties, etc.) about rights violations in Guyana. Mike Persaud also wrote several MoC about fraudulent elections. I authored or edited several letters to President Reagan, Vice President Bush and Members of Congress for Dr Vishnu Bandhu who made an immense contribution in the struggle for free and fair election and whose work was never recognised or rewarded. His contribution to the restoration of democracy through his letter writing, his newspaper, organising rallies, fundraisers for politicians, hosting events at his business, etc., have gone unreported and un-noticed. He spent millions of dollars in USA to fund the struggle. He is deserving of Guyana’s highest honors or medal of freedom as have a few others.
The US government functions on lobbying (a process of influencing MoC and or the White House and or lawmakers around USA) on decision or policymaking that benefits the group or granting favoritism to certain organisations, businesses, foreign governments, etc. Lobbying takes a variety of forms including face to face meetings, raising funds for and campaigning for the legislator’s re-election, hiring lobbyists, paying speaker’s fees (that is restricted of late), etc. Lobbying can be voluntary (grass roots) as several of us (like Mike Persaud, Vishnu Bandhu, Ramharack, Ravi Dev, Vassan and Rennie Ramracha, myself, and Chuck, Arjune Karshan, Mel Carpen, Raj Singh, among others post collapse of communism) have done for Guyana during the struggle for the restoration of democracy, or on tariff, etc. Where we failed to influence MoC, the White House, and the two major political parties, we appealed to Indian nationals for assistance. They were most helpful in influencing MoC, Bush, and Democratic Party to take a stand on Guyana authoritarianism. It was the lobbying by Guyanese in USA and others that propelled MoC like Ted Kennedy, Stephen Solarz, etc. and President Bush to issue statements calling for free and fair elections in Guyana.
Lobbying can also be done through a paid lobbyist as currently engaged by the government of Guyana. There has been no (formally organised) Guyanese (or Indian Caribbean) grass roots organisation lobbying any level of government in America; there never was although there are African Caribbean and Indian lobbying groups. There have been organisations (like the ones I belonged to) that informally have lobbied various levels of government and lawmakers on policies that would benefit the Guyanese American community and Guyana. We still appeal to politicians on trade and on the Maduro threat without recognition from Georgetown.
The government is commended for hiring a lobbyist. It should encourage Guyanese Americans to launch a (non-partisan, non-party affiliated) lobbying organisation, even fund it with an office, to champion the interests of Guyana and the American based diaspora. It will be money well spent as both the diaspora and Guyana would be beneficiaries.