Threats by the US government to impose sanctions on Guyana’s A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition Government have been met with disdain by some Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of government. Last week US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheres Affairs, Michael Kozac, threatened sanctions if incumbent President David Granger is sworn in for a second term based on “unverified” elections results.
The US, UK, Canadian governments and the EU have joined with Guyana’s opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), to call for a recount of votes cast in District 4 (Demerara Mahaica Region). The PPP claims it won the March 2, 2020 general elections. These governments had sanctioned the previous PPP government for setting up death squads which were allegedly responsible for the extajudicial killing of over 1000 Afro-Guyanese young men between 1999 and 2011.
The killings occurred during the presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo, 56. Jagdeo is the current general secretary of the PPP and leader of the opposition. Western powers had accused Jagdeo of running a deadly narco-regime which openly facilitated drug transshipment from South America to North America and Europe. There has been many calls for Jagdeo to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, Netherlands, but to date no action has been taken.
The PPP claim of victory has been undercut by official results declared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Returning Officers (RO) in the ten Electoral Districts. GECOM’s results show the APNU+AFC coalition winning by under 8,000 votes. According to the Guyana constitution, GECOM is an autonomous state agency which cannot be directed any person or by another branch of government, including the courts. The commission has not officially declared the results due to several court challenges.
A Caricom Head of Government has now expressed skepticism over PPP’s claim of victory and allegations of electoral fraud. The Head lashed out against “foreign intervention” in Guyana and expressed dismay at “US interference in Guyana’s elections while the matter is before the Guyana Supreme Court.” The regional leader said that the US is undermining the rule of law and democracy in the region. The remarks were made last Friday at a private gathering of businesspersons in a Caribbean nation.
The regional leader told the audience that republican consulting firm Mercury Public Affairs has been advising PPP leaders. The Caribbean Prime Minister said Mercury is the culprit behind what appears to be a misinformation campaign to discredit the elections results. The US Justice Department Mueller Report identified Mercury as the campaign consulting firm that allegedly helped Russian agents disseminate false information to influence Americans in the 2016 presidential elections.
Guyanese Minister of National Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, an attorney at law, notified the media two weeks ago that his Ministry had ordered Immigration officials to arrest and deport three foreigners, including Russians, who were in Guyana working for the PPP. The men were held with surveillance and computer hacking equipment at the Marriott hotel in Georgetown.
Twelve armed men were also arrested by Guyanese Police on the night of the elections for allegedly attempting to remove elections documents and equipment from a polling station in Alberttown, Georgetown. The men admitted to working for the PPP. Surveillance video also captured the men taking instructions from senior PPP officials earlier in the day.
