The least opportunity that some people get to become an overnight expert, they step right up to the plate, but only to end up bent-double in ignominy, wasting our time. All these gambits turn out to be porous, flaccid, inconsequential, and utterly devoid of substance. The latest iteration has surfaced in the form of criticizing President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo for attending COP 28. Their thesis, if one wants to be exceptionally generous to call it that, is the Commander-in-Chief should not leave the country in a time of crisis. This is pure bunk! Firstly, we do not have a crisis here. What we do have is an ongoing controversy with the Venezuelan government. In international politics, a crisis is defined as a situation of high uncertainty, with possible severe consequences, and with limited time, few options, and inadequate resources with which to respond.
When President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo left for COP 28, this specific configuration of elements was not present. Yesterday, the ICJ issued a ruling to constrain Maduro’s December 3rd ill-advised referendum. President Ali was correct in his assessment that the ICJ would hand down the ruling it did. No uncertainty here. Further, the President has political and military intelligence that only he and his national security team has and should have. His decision to attend COP 28 is based on all the information he has in his hand. Good leaders are never constrained by fear.
Secondly, COP 28 is a major international and global event, one where Heads of State meet. Guyana is a big player in two aspects of climate change international relations and global politics. With respect to the former, we are a highly forested country that has earned valuable financial resources from that source. As for the latter, our Oil & Gas industry compels us to participate in this multilateral forum to articulate and defend our national interests. Finally, much of Guyana is potentially threatened by rising sea levels, and for this reason also, we must be at the table.
President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo are in the exact place they should be, that is, at COP 28. They are there doing the business of this nation. In the meantime, the fly-by-night- experts, some of whom went as far as to produce an AI video on the subject, should think critically about the harm they are doing. Sometimes modesty is the best policy.
Dr Randy Persaud, Georgetown, Guyana