Stella Says…Ladies, I beg to stop them from raping Guyana again

by Stella Ramsaroop

(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 27 August 2006)

Ladies, it is time to do something about the deteriorating situation in Guyana – and tomorrow is your best opportunity to change the course of history in this nation permanently.

I read an article this morning by the Caribbean Net News entitled, "Suriname to accommodate possible refugees from Guyana." The article said the President of Suriname, Ronald Venetiaan, is prepared to accept those who want to take refuge in his country during any post election violence in Guyana.

It is sad enough that this preparation has to be taken in the first place. It is as if Guyana's neighbours do not believe the people of this nation can have an election without bloodshed. However, what really struck me was something the President of Suriname said in regards to Guyana.

The article said, "According to Venetiaan, Suriname, along with other countries in the region and the rest of the world, is striving after peaceful development, and it is therefore watching 'how Guyana will survive this period'."

This is something I have said repeatedly over the last year. The world is watching Guyana to see how it acts and reacts to various events. Investors are watching, governments are watching, South American and Caribbean neighbours are watching, World Cup organisers are watching, even China, way over on the other side of the world, is watching.

All of these various parties are undoubtedly hoping for the best, but Suriname's statement shows they do not expect the best. It would be difficult to think otherwise when one examines the amount of violence that has overshadowed this entire year so far.

Ladies, this is why I implore you with every fibre of my being to please, please, please do something to change this situation in Guyana once and for all. I beg you to show up in record numbers tomorrow at the polls and vote for change.

Guyana has been raped over and over again at the hands of self-seeking and ruthless leaders who do not care about you, your children or whether there is food on your plate tonight. They do not care about your future or even about Guyana's future. They only care about power.

This is more than obvious by the continued unacceptable state of the nation. The constant fear that runs through your veins is proof of how your leaders have disregarded you and left you to be taken by the hands of death and poverty. They have ravaged Guyana of every single bit of life and left her barren and desolate.

These leaders then throw parties right before elections and tell you that they care about your situation. To believe these putrid lies again and cast your vote for either of the two parties that share the blame for the state of the nation would make you just as guilty as them.

You know they do not care about Guyana. You know they do not care about you. You know the only reason they even talk to you at all is to maintain their power because as soon as the elections are over they will run back and hide in their mansions and close their ears to you for another five years.

Meanwhile, what will you do? Who will protect you? Who will help you create a good life for your and your family? Ladies, it is time to stop this madness and to kick those good for nothing leaders out on their keisters.

Let them try and find another way to pay for their mansions besides your taxes or the bribes and kickbacks they get from their corrupt practices. What ever you do, I beg you to please make this madness end for Guyana. If all of the women of Guyana vote for change, then change will most definitely happen.

This can be something you determine to do in your heart and no one else even has to know about it. If you are afraid, no one even has to know what party you vote for tomorrow. You can tell the world you voted for the same party as always, but instead vote for change. It is your vote that matters, not what you tell others.

You have other viable choices this year. You have better options than to live in this perpetual terror propagated by those same leaders over decades of your life. You can make Guyana better tomorrow. You can give your children a chance to live in peace and prosperity.

Ladies, if you saw a man rape a woman and did nothing to stop it, your inaction would heap guilt on you for the rest of your life. Likewise, you cannot watch these leaders rape Guyana over and over again and do nothing to stop it. You have to take action.

It is time for the women of Guyana to open their eyes and see that these leaders have been manipulating the entire country for decades now. There are very few who do not know all of the vile acts both parties commit as scare tactics to keep the "faithful" in the fold.

How long will you allow them to play games your mind when they do nothing but harm you, your family and your country? How long will you allow them to ravage your nation? The ladies of Guyana do not need to vote along side the men. They are not required to cast the same vote as their husband, brother or father.

Guyana's women have brilliant minds of their own and they are more than strong enough to make their own decisions about who can finally drag Guyana out of its unhealthy past and into a vibrant and thriving future. This is my plea, ladies.

This is all that I care about for Guyana. I do not care who you vote for tomorrow, so long as it is not the same two parties that have raped Guyana over and over for so long. It is time for the healing to start and the only way that can happen is for the abuse to stop.

The power to stop the Guyana's perpetual abuse is in your hands, ladies. Do not allow them to opportunity to continue their exploitation. Stop them now. Stop them with your vote.

Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com