We have been placed in perilous waters

Dear Editor,

The APNU/AFC/Government of Guyana Dossier disseminated by a Joe Harmon in the “Capitals” of the world in a foolhardy attempt to defend intransigence of the Granger administration following the brazen/bizarre attempt at electoral fraud makes for interesting reading. The Dossier contains a narrative of PPP/China collusion and makes claims of a ten thousand acre military base for the People’s Liberation Army and of granting citizenship to the point where Chinese are supposedly ten percent of Guyana’s population, more than Amerindians! As with any document, however, it must be fact-checked and in so doing, I have come across some interesting bits of information that show a pattern of continuous and growing Chinese involvement in Guyana’s affairs under the APNU/AFC/Granger administration.

In 2016, the Chinese officials presented a master-plan for the development of every sector of Guyana to a team that included Raphael Trotman. Following this, a close relationship between the government and Huawei developed and a costly Artificial Intelligence software and hardware has been installed in Georgetown and that includes facial recognition, phone tracking, licence plate tracking, and communications monitoring capabilities. This system has not been utilised to fight crime to date. It has been labelled the ‘Smart City’.

It is public record that many of the top brass of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has attended Military courses in China and there have been unusually large donations of vehicles, weapons, and ammunition to the GDF. There was secret testing of weapons in the Tacama savannahs that may have involved new technologies.

China is paying the entire cost of Guyana’s diplomatic team to the G77. This team provides support for the Chairmanship of the Group which is held by Guyana. I believe this act is a betrayal of the trust placed in our country by the G77 members and has blackened the country’s name for the foreseeable future. What price is Guyana paying for this benevolence? Who gave the green light to this subversion of our sovereignty? This must be answered forthwith.
China is the only country (of nine) to provide Agreement for a new Ambassador, all of whom were appointed shortly before the Elections and who (Ambassadors) were asked to take up appointments by 9th of April. Canada and the UK are among the nations who refused to accept the diplomats.

In 2019, senior officials in leading Chinese oil companies recently visited Guyana for a series of high-level meetings including a three-hour one-on-one meeting with a top official. There are reports to the effect that a relative of another official has emerged as the de facto Minister of Oil and was involved in all talks and negotiations.

After the international condemnation of Mingo’s declaration, APNU/AFC elements took to social media platforms to denounce America and even posited that EXXON should sell its interest to a Chinese company.
I believe key elements in Granger’s administration are colluding with China for protection of personal gains made through corrupt practice, the use of Bart Fisher who “has represented the Government of the People’s Republic of China (1999-2000) on international trade matters… and Fisher currently is Senior Advisor for the CITIC Group, which is the third-largest enterprise in China” is no coincidence.

Editor, after doing the due diligence on this ‘dossier’, I can see why David Granger was so eager to distance himself from the contents and to disavow knowledge of the contents and the Lobbying firm of JJ&B LLC. If Granger had not made such a mockery of the Commission of Inquiry tool, this dossier and the China/Granger connection would certainly be grist for that mill. Guyana’s sovereignty has been compromised clearly with the financing of the G77 team; will the special military relationship be exploited by the Chinese government as a ruse for testing American resolve in the region? We have been placed in perilous waters, mere minnows swimming among global sharks.

Respectfully
Robin Singh