Dear Editor,
Guyana is threatened by its larger neighbour Venezuela. Guyana is in no position to defend itself militarily. For that it needs the United States. Not CARICOM, not OAS, not Brazil, not Argentina. You get the point. Now an American company, Exxon, is currently drilling oil in Guyana. It is a reasonable assumption that the United States will intervene militarily to protect an American company’s assets (its rights to an 11-billion-barrel oil reserve plus all the machinery and drill ships) – in the event of Venezuela invading Guyana’s territory. It is what it is – a reasonable assumption! No formal alliance or Defense Treaty exists between Guyana and the United States.
Now, a lot is up in the air. A lot of unknowns. The Government of Guyana wants some sense of security, so it hires a Washington DC lobbying firm headed by a Mr. Carlos Trujillo at a cost of $600,000 in contract fees plus a maximum of $180,000 a year in expenses to lobby President Trump and his Administration. Is this a good deal struck by President Ali – hiring the services of a lobbying firm to get some Facetime with President Trump? My commonsensical question: Why hire a lobbying firm to do what President Ali can do for himself, namely, write the U.S. president directly and request a meeting? President Ali is head of an oil-producing state; Carlos Trujillo is head of a lobbying firm. To whom President Trump is more likely to respond: Ali or Trujillo?
I think the average reader can make up his/her own mind about the answer to this question. It is my opinion that President Trump will respond promptly and positively to President Ali’s request for a meeting. Given how President Ali’s and Guyana’s problem is defined, namely, a need for security against a larger neighbour’s threat of invasion, a direct meeting with President Trump is the answer to your problem. There is no need for a contract with a lobbying firm.
Once an appointment for a meeting with President Trump is obtained, President Ali should waste no time broaching the question for a Defense Treaty. And, proceed from that point to reach some sort of an answer to your security needs. Anonymous bloggers in the SN have said Security for the State is implied (if not guaranteed) in the horribly bad fiscal items in the Oil Contract – 2% royalty, 75% Cost Recovery, profit-sharing 12.5% of revenues. These bloggers have repeatedly said, if GoG were to dare ask for improvement in the fiscal items, Guyana would lose that implied security. Perhaps, they reason, POTUS would get angry and deny military security to Guyana.
I think the reasoning of these anonymous bloggers is ridiculous. Parties to billion-dollar contracts and geopolitics don’t work on whims and implied bargains. It must be agreed to and signed by all the parties – national and geopolitical. Hence the reason I would urge President Ali to negotiate a Defense Treaty. The Venezu-elan leader is already on record as saying Venezuela would not agree to any decision from the ICJ that goes against Venezuela. That makes it an existential threat to Guy-ana – and therefore you need a Defense Treaty.
Unnamed bloggers have also said a Defense Treaty would cost a billion dollars. Well, you would not know until you raise and discuss the matter with the U.S. President. And, what if it costs a billion dollars? Guyana is losing $35 billion on that 2% royalty (Suriname’s is 6.25%) on 11 billion barrels at today’s world market price. That royalty must be renegotiated. It must not be allowed to endure for 25-years. It is outrageous for Exxon to be allowed to cheat the Guyanese nation – because of fear of an oil giant. Power dynamic or whatever is the explanation – this lopsided contract must be faced and challenged head-on.
Late this afternoon (March 12th) I came across this post in the SN from Guyanese-born Attorney-at-law Dr Dolly Hassan – commenting on President Ali’s decision to hire a lobbying firm headed by a Mr. Carlos Trujillo to lobby President Trump for help with Guyana’s security needs: – – Dolly Hassan, Esq. Say it ain’t so please! What a waste of money! What a scam! What a rip off! Have we gone crazy? Whose idea was this? Please undo this. You will NEVER get your money’s worth! NEVER!
In conclusion, I say: Guyana does not need a lobbying firm. Guyana’s president needs some Facetime with President Trump to discuss the threat from Venezuela – and to have an opportunity to negotiate a Defense Treaty. He can best do that himself by writing a letter directly to President Trump at the White House and request that meeting.
Sincerely,
Mike Persaud.
