Decision was made to protect US businesses

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,
Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, is reported by sections of the media on April 26, 2018 to have told the workers of Rusal: “The good news, however, is that the US reduced the sanction on RUSAL after realising that it will also affect thousands of workers, such as the 500 working in Region 10”.
It seems that Minister Trotman is seeking to outshine his colleague, Minister Ramjattan, who is known to regularly put his foot in his mouth.
To say that the US Government was not aware of the thousands of workers employed by Rusal prior to its imposition of sanctions is downright laughable. Certainly, a well-endowed nation as the United States would be aware of the ramifications of its sanctions prior to its imposition. It is because of the harshness of those consequences that sanctions were pursued by the Trump Administration in the first place.
Based on several reported instances, it is my view that the re-looking at the sanctions by the US Government has nothing to do with its empathy for Rusal’s workers, whether in Guyana or elsewhere; but has more to do with implications for US businesses.
As former US President Abraham Lincoln famously said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
Yours faithfully,
Patricia Persaud

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