Guyanese President, Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking to the media at his press conference yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer IN THE wake of recent violence in Guyana, President Bharrat Jagdeo, returns there from Jamaica today "optimistic about the future of the region."
Speaking at a press conference in Kingston yesterday, the 38-year-old President conceded that the region may "never have a significant leverage on the world scene," but pointed to knowledge-based industries, infrastructure development and solidarity among developing countries as means of creating a "decent standard of living for our people."
"We have to start thinking in the same way as the developed countries," he said. "We have to operate in the national interest."
Having spent the day visiting sugar plantations and aquaculture projects in St. Elizabeth, the Russian-educated Jagdeo skated over the recent eruption of crime in Guyana, which included a re-emergence of violent political activism and a rise in organised crime.
He explained that the country had seen an increase in the use of small firearms in criminal activity, but insisted the situation was well in hand.
However, he conceded that political instability and high crime rates had contributed to the slow development of the region, urging Caribbean states to share more information to crack down on drug-related crime and calling for a move away from the reactionary, antagonistic politics of the past.
"I am hoping that there will be changes," he said, referring specifically to Guyana, "that there will be new leaders who I feel we can work with to change the political culture of the country."
"Unfortunately, there is a huge rearguard action being fought to maintain the old guard," he said. "But I am sure that will change and we will have a totally different politics that will not be a humbug to the development of our people."
