Dear Editor,
Lincoln Lewis’ attack on Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett’s candidacy for Secretary-General of the United Nations says far more about his lingering political frustrations than it does about the Ambassador’s qualifications.
Mr. Lewis attempts to cloak his argument in lofty language about democracy, justice, and impartiality. Yet the irony is impossible to ignore.
Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett belongs to a political movement that spent decades resisting authoritarianism and fighting for the restoration of free and fair elections in Guyana. The PPP/C did not inherit democracy, it struggled for it against a political system that many Guyanese still remember all too well.
It is, therefore, astonishing to watch individuals who remained silent during periods of internationally condemned elections suddenly reinvent themselves as guardians of democratic morality. Guyanese are not suffering from historical amnesia.
Mr. Lewis praises diplomats such as Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen and Rashleigh Jackson. Their intellect and accomplishments are unquestioned. However, history also records that they served under a regime widely criticised for electoral manipulation and democratic suppression.
Mr. Lewis cannot conveniently separate diplomacy from political context when discussing the past while demanding that Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett be judged entirely through a partisan political lens today.
The truth is simple, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett has one of the strongest diplomatic resumes ever produced by Guyana. She has represented Guyana with distinction at the United Nations, served at the highest levels of multilateral diplomacy, and helped guide Guyana during one of the most consequential periods in its modern international history, including its successful tenure on the UN Security Council. Her professionalism, discipline, and command of international affairs are internationally recognised.
Mr. Lewis’ attempt to portray her as “partisan” because she publicly defended the elected Government of Guyana is equally disingenuous. Diplomats are appointed to represent states and governments. That is literally their job. By Mr. Lewis’ absurd standard, almost every major international diplomat in the modern era would be disqualified from global office.
What truly weakens his argument, however, is his reliance on the same tired racial and political grievances that have been recycled for years without credible evidence. Guyanese voters themselves increasingly rejected these narratives during the 2025 elections, reducing the once-dominant opposition into political irrelevance and internal fragmentation. The public has grown weary of attempts to weaponise race, grievance, and victimhood whenever democratic outcomes prove politically inconvenient.
Even more revealing is Mr. Lewis’s selective outrage. He condemns Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett for supporting her government, yet remains remarkably silent about opposition figures who openly undermine state institutions, attack international partners, and spread reckless narratives that damage Guyana’s reputation abroad. Apparently, “impartiality” only applies selectively.
His comparison with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is also intellectually weak. Prime Minister Mottley is not a candidate, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett is.
The real question is whether she possesses the competence, temperament, and international standing required for the office. Her record answers that question decisively and clearly shows that she is eminently qualified.
What appears to trouble Mr. Lewis most is not Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett’s qualifications, but the reality that Guyana today commands growing international respect and influence and it is because of the current leadership currently in government.
A country once dismissed as small and insignificant now plays an increasingly important role in regional and international affairs. That reality clearly unsettles sections of the old political establishment that remain trapped in grievance politics and Cold War nostalgia.
The international community will judge Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett based on decades of diplomatic service, competence, and integrity and not on partisan bitterness published in local newspapers.
Mr. Lewis is entitled to his views. But Guyanese should recognise this letter for what it truly is, not an objective assessment of a diplomat’s qualifications, but a political broadside rooted in resentment toward the very democratic forces that transformed Guyana.