Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning Keoma Griffith last week participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington D.C., where he had the opportunity to engage with several prominent members of the United States Congress and deepen ties.
A release from the Department of Public Information (DPI) said that during the visit, Griffith spoke with Congressman Jonathan Jackson, where the two discussed the importance of continued US support for Guyana’s developmental agenda. The Minister also held talks with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, among other members of the Caucus, “as part of a broader effort to strengthen Guyana’s relationships with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle”.
DPI said that Guyana continues to enjoy strong, bipartisan support within the US Congress, and Griffith’s engagements this week reflect the Government’s ongoing commitment to deepening these ties.
The government here has had fraught ties with Jeffries who is in line to become the House Majority Leader at the upcoming US midterm elections.
On September 16, 2023, Jeffries met with President Irfaan Ali and his delegation in Washington and stressed the need for an inclusive society here and for the government and the opposition to work together.
After the meeting, Jeffries stated: “On Thursday, I hosted a meeting with Guyanese President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and a delegation of government officials from the Republic of Guyana. Several leading congressional members with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security and other critical issues to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn and across the United States also participated.
“During the meeting we discussed several critical issues, including regional and energy security, the climate crisis and the importance of an inclusive society in Guyana that involved full economic participation and civic engagement by Guyanese-Africans and Guyanese-Indians. We also discussed electoral reform, strengthening democratic institutions and the need to bolster access to banking and financial services in the Caribbean region”.
On September 27, 2023, Jeffries met with then Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton and his team in Washington.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Jeffries, a New Yorker, said several leading congressional Democrats with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security and other critical issues to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn participated.
“In the meeting, we discussed a vision for a Guyanese economy and a society that is inclusive, developed and equitable for everyone, including the Afro-Guyanese community. The members of the opposition underscored the importance of lifting people out of poverty by ensuring economic growth, promoting infrastructure development and strengthening democratic institutions. The opposition leader also expressed concern with racial inequalities that he felt needed to be addressed and the importance of equal protection under the law for all Guyanese”, Jeffries said.
In June of 2022, while addressing Seventh-day Adventist members at a church in New York on an occasion called Guyana Day, Jeffries described the Guyanese community in the US as hard working, entrepreneurial, family-oriented, community-centred and spiritually sound.
He however said those living in Guyana are doing so “under very difficult circumstances with a Government who has not consistently treated everyone consistent with the principle of equal protection under the law”.
“And we are not going to tolerate racism here, we are not going to tolerate racism down in Guyana either and we going to continue to do everything necessary to get things moving in a fairer more equitable direction,” he said to loud applause.
That statement had invoked the ire of the PPP/C government.
Discussion