propaganda press! freedom in Guyana

two years after getting on his hands and knees and crawling back into freedom house with his tail neatly tucked between his legs begging forgiveness for his errant ways, Moses Nagamootoo is back with a vengeance and has been appointed Guyana’s new Home Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs. like a Phoenix he has rises from the death bed of his ashes. prior crawling on his knees into freedom house, moses was on his knees before the boy wundurkund bhar.rat jagdeo. [we're writing from the future so we go back in time to an interview done by our adorable, appealing, alluring 009 correspondent Ursila Ramdial with Moses the desert king]

Ursila: You said earlier that when you came back into the party, after your brief absence, that you were available for certain positions, among them was Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is now going to be free. Are you still available for that?

MVN: I am available, I am a soldier. [Laughs] And I am always ready for the call of duty. I believe that at the time this matter had been broached in the 2006 Elections, I understood the President to be saying “Look, Foreign Affairs is not available, Rudy Insanally is doing a marvellous job.” Well I agree with that.

I think that Mr. Rudy Insanally is one of the finest diplomats this country has ever produced. He has worked well as a diplomat in Caracas and elsewhere in various forums, in regional and international fora, at the United Nations as Guyana’s permanent representative, and he has served as the country’s Foreign Minister. He has done all of these functions both under the previous and present Government and it is a hallmark to his ability and to his diplomatic credence that he could do so without showing bias or partisanism and his leaving will in fact create a tremendous vacuum. He has left a void because he was such a multi-dimensional personality with all the talents and virtues of a country’s diplomat and peacemaker.

Whoever succeeds Rudy Insanally will have a very heavy task to carry forward. It is at a time when Human Rights is under threat in Guyana in a sense that there are challenges to issues of Human Rights and Governance. Right now I see the Opposition Party tabling a motion in Parliament to deal with allegations of torture. And so for all the things that have happened, intentionally and unintentionally, the Lusignan and the Bartica massacres, the crime and so on, it tends to put a pall on international view of what Guyana is.

So you need to have the best image of Guyana projected on the international scene. You need to re-image Guyana, to re-position Guyana in this current situation, a very difficult situation, to be able to continue to attract investors, to be able to continue to gain the confidence of the international community and to learn as much as we can and to implement as much as we can, those treaties and international conventions and all the obligations that go with them, to make our practices here better and healthier.

If I am asked on this occasion, now that there is a vacancy to be filled, I will not find an excuse. But I can say this, that if I am given an opportunity, it will be a monumental task to fit into the shoes of Rudy Insanally and to perform those functions as he did so well and in the professional way he did them.

Ursila: Apart from yourself, is there anybody else [be honest] who is capable of doing that?

MVN: I think there are other persons who you could draw from. Your country’s Foreign Minister is your country’s foremost diplomat. There are certain attributes that you would look for, as the person has to have some experience in the area of diplomacy, must be very versed in the current affairs of the world, must know what the geo-political agenda is, the geo-political strategies of developed against developing countries and so on. It is in a sense, a portfolio that carries the ability of someone to do delicate balancing in accord with the international climate. I don’t doubt that there are others who would fit the bill.

Ursila: Any name?
MVN: I don’t know of any name except one perhaps!! — Dr. Odeen Ishmael. I thought that he has had a very long and credible insider view of how diplomacy is practised and I would think that he would be an eminently qualified candidate, if I may say so, and he is a colleague and friend of mine. [Odeen Ishmael served as Guyana's ambassador to the US & permanent rep to the OAS from '93 - '03 before being demoted to the socialist paradise of Caracas for reasons unknown]

Ursila: If he were the person, let’s say if they don’t put you and they put him? You would accept that?

MVN: Well … let’s deal with the first one and see if my availability counts. [there was a 'hell no i wont accept that are you crazy' glare in his left eye]

Ursila: On the 2006 campaign trail when you had your neemak haram epiphany and shouted to the crowd “WE MUST BE UNCOMPROMISING AGAINST CRIME. THOSE WHO LIVE BY THE SWORD MUST DIE BY THE SWORD! … TO KILLERS, I SAY: YOU EITHER LAY DOWN YOUR GUNS OR BE LAID DOWN BY GUNS.” What did you mean? What was going through your mind?

MVN: What did I mean? What was running throug my mind?…

Ursila: Yes!

MVN: Girl i de frikken…all uh we de frikken bad. dem bais de shootin’ up de place bad bad bad an’ is roger khan who come to we rescue. sorry they had to abandon he later, but without he, all uh we woulda bin dead and this party Cheddi Jagan wuk suh hard fuh buil’up would’ve been back to the desert wilderness, but remember Ursila, the sufferings of Israel then caused God to appear to Moses in a flame bursting forth from the earth, and to tell him to march against Egypt for the rescue of his people. Accordingly he went to Egypt to deliberate with his brother Aaron about the plan of warfare, but was put into prison. At night, however, the doors of the prison opened of their own accord, while the guards died or fell asleep. Going to the royal palace and finding the doors open there and the guards sunk in sleep, he went straight to the king, and when scoffingly asked by the latter for the name of the God who sent him, he whispered the Ineffable Name into his ear, whereupon the king became speechless and as one dead. Then Moses wrote the name upon a tablet and sealed it up, and a priest who made sport of it died in convulsions. After this Moses performed all the wonders, striking land and people with plagues until the king let the Jews go. In remembrance of the rod with which Moses performed his miracles every Isis temple in Egypt has preserved a rod — Isis symbolizing the earth which Moses struck with his rod… He was eighty-nine years old when he delivered the Jews; tall and ruddy, with long white hair, and dignified.

[Over rum and cutters later Nagamootoo said, 'how de hell deh gon put Odeen? Odeen a'ready geh he fuckin' chance at minstuh wuk an he geh sen to venezuela so he can res he'self as he de doin pure schupidness in washingon and new york. is me turn now! is me name moses. is me who lead the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. god part the red sea fuh me moses"

Moses V. Nagamootoo is a Member of Parliament and Attorney in private practice. A professional journalist, he served during 1992-2000 as Senior Minister of Information and Minister of Local Government & Regional Development.]

update weds apr 9th 2008 9pm EST

Rodrigues appointed Foreign Affairs Minister
-Pauline Campbell-Sukhai Minister of Amerindian Affairs
Georgetown, GINA, April 9, 2008
The Office of the President today announced that Minister of Amerindian Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues has been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Pauline Campbell-Sukhai has been appointed Minister of Amerindian Affairs.

Scenes from swearing in ceremony of Mrs.Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mrs.Pauline Campbell-Sukhai as Minister of Amerindian Affairs at the Office of the President.

‘Bharrat Jagdeo’s Ladies’: From left, Ms. Jennifer Webster, Mrs. Indra Chandarpal, Ms. Priya Manickchand, Dr. Desrey Fox, Former President Mrs Janet Jagan, Mrs Pauline Sukhai, Mrs Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Dr. Jennifer Westford and Ms Gail Teixeira. (2nd foto)

check out rat boy hanging on in the back ground in the first picture