Guyana Observer News

Letter to the Editor

Monday, 20 July 2009

Dear Editor,
As I read your editorial of Sunday 07/19/09, I could not help smiling ruefully to myself over the packaged appearance of the presentation. The automatic assumptions as usual, without any objective evidence in that direction, is that "they did it". "They" of course being persons the regime in power blames for everything, including sometimes, vissicitudes caused by the ravages of nature. It would seem that the Stabroeknews is still paying pennace for its deviation from the mean that triggered punitive reprisals from the powers that be, and is determined to make up for time lost by beating out a tune on its drums that gets back into synchrony with its traditional political melody. Your editorial pronounces that,"There are certainly wild men out there who do not adhere to any formal party structure, but who are incited to commit dangerous acts because of a tense political atmosphere, or careless statements made in the political arena, even though these were not intended to incite anyone. As things stand, the political atmosphere has been a great deal less than rational in recent times, while of the careless public statements, the most unfortunate of them (on Honduras) was made by Mr Corbin. One presumes that the recent shrillness of tone of the ruling politicians is to do with the local government elections, and their fear that members of their constituency might not turn out to vote at all, or might even defect because the PNC is not perceived as representing the threat it once did. As for the PNC, it is in disarray and its leader under challenge on a number of fronts, which is not an environment conducive to moderation in speech". While I will leave the implied association of Mr Corbin with this latest Lindo Creek like event, it is amazing to note the selectivity of the Stabroeknews when it comes to determining "careless statements made in the political arena". Virtually every day in Guyana there are careless statements emanating from the political side that do not only control every aspect of the nationally owned media, but is able to proliferate its carelessness across a wider swathe of the population than any other political group. Careless statements and responsive shrillness to events have resulted in the murders of hundreds of black men. But I suppose that the Stabroeknews is discerning the dangers of such behaviour based on where the antipathy is likely to be directed.

The Stabroeknews seem to have enthusiastically bought into what appears to be a locally constructed Gulf of Tonkin scenario, and is providing the ground work for what is to follow. That there are armed gangs of men out there who participated in mass killings, and have never been apprehended or identified, is not a problem for Stabroeknews. These are not considered to be wild and crazy people who might have a reason to incite tension, and even if they were, the valuability of the targets they are likely to focus on is way down on the scale of importance of those who own and direct the operations of the Stabroeknews. Throughout the history of its existence the Stabroeknews has concretized its sentiments when it comes to who are the bad guys and who are the good guys in Guyana. I guess we tend to expect too much from a newspaper that, throughout its historical examination of the politics of ethnic divisions and tensions in this nation, always seem to find itself on one particular side of the fence. And to the well worn argument proffered that the criticism from both sides vindicates the news reporting of the Stabroeknews, I would present a countering argument that the selectoral equation applied by the Stabroeknews has never been balanced, and is still not balanced.

I do not know who applied the torch, figuratively that is, to the Ministry of Health Headquarters. But in a nation where confession statements are routinely beaten out of people, a Mayor is presented with and asked to sign a statement he did not make implicating a person accused by the regime of a phantom offence, and the existence of hundreds of precedents of individuals being tortured, mutilated and killed because of articles in newspapers and other postulations arguing for their guilt, the assumptions laid out in this editorial of the Stabroeknews is very irresponsible. Pay your dues yes, but at least do so in a way that does not suggest that a dangerous experience with selective amnesia is not coloring your views.

Sincerely,
Mark A. Benschop

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