Will Guyana become another Venezuela?

Ominous and sinister: Guyana Times’ photo of two undercover Policemen in Parliament sitting at the media table. Were they spying on the media, or the opposition, or both? This report follows the debacle in Parliament wherein Police assaulted female MPs from the PPP. Were those policemen in the scuffle? Unchartered waters for Guyana.
Complaints should be lodged with the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Is Guyana going to be another Venezuela?
Guyana’s democracy is under threat. A PPP-filed pending elections claim continues to languish in the courts despite the law providing for these matters to be expeditiously dealt with. In Parliament, the PPP, as the Opposition, have been deprived of the usual rights to obtain answers to questions. In fact, Parliament sittings have been reduced and compressed, stifling the voice of the Opposition. The Speaker has taken on a distinctly biased view against the Opposition.
Similarly, many of the committees of Parliament have seen a substantially diminished role. The ability of the Opposition to scrutinize has been muzzled. In numerous cases in Parliament, any effort by the Opposition to ensure transparency and accountability has been pushed back on, trampled on, or given “lip service.”
The media have similarly toned down their normal attacks on issues that were commonplace under the PPP. An independent, free and open media now appear under treat or stifled. The result is a toned-down flow of negative articles despite an ever-growing abundance of cases of corruption, abuse of procurement procedures, and a considerable loss of accountability and transparency. No wonder the books of the Government can be falsified, and the President, in one of his rare engagements with the media, say it’s okay to keep the country in the dark.
Undercover Police in the media ranks suggest infiltration to report negative or hostile journalists to the Government, and similarly to observe and report on the Opposition. Guyana is fast becoming a Police state. A Police Commissioner sent on leave. The paramountcy of the Party (APNU) now is clear. Where does it end? Who are the Police reporting to? Is the army intelligence also involved? Are the reports of the undercover Policemen going to the Office of the President? Are the tactics and thoughts of the media being analyzed to determine who is to be muzzled?
Of course, the creation of SARA has further eroded the separation of independent institutions such as the Police. No longer can one rely on independent and professional Police.
More and more, one sees the hands of APNU political direction and bias. The latest example of undercover Police in the ranks of the media sitting behind the Opposition now add greater fuel to a declining democracy.
People and money are exiting the country. Skills and investment dollars are disappearing. No new investment, no new jobs, declining incomes, loss of value of homes, increase bank defaults, increased taxation — the growing tide that will impoverish the average Guyanese. Will Guyana become another Venezuela? Will we have a democracy in 2020?
Sincerely,
Name withheld