President Dr. Irfaan Ali engages Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives and a top Democratic Party leader, at the sidelines of a recent CARICOM meeting. Also in photo, at centre, is Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves (Photo: Office of the President/ July 5, 2023)

President Ali ‘educated’ Congressman Jeffries on misleading narratives about Guyana

… Re-issues invitation for talks on country's development

By Editor On Jul 7, 2023

President Dr. Irfaan Ali said he tried to educate Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives and a top Democratic Party leader, on some of the ways he was misled on Guyana’s landscape.

“I was happy to have the opportunity to meet him and once again invite him to a meeting and (speak to) any concerns he has and to educate him on Guyana.

“And not myself alone, other leaders were there and helped him have a fuller, truer understanding, a more meaningful understanding of Guyana and what we are about,” President Ali said on Friday.

President Ali and Mr. Jeffries met at the sidelines of the 45th Regular Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Port of Spain, earlier this week.

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley were also part of the engagement between President Ali and Mr. Jeffries.

Dr. Ali, however, said the engagement was a brief one. As such, he reissued an earlier invitation for Jeffries to meet with him. The Guyanese Head of State said he has statistics and information to prove to Jeffries that he has the wrong perception about Guyana.

Last year, President Ali said Mr. Jeffries was peddling false claims about Guyana’s governance and democracy. He made this statement after Jeffries did not respond to an invitation to engage him (the President) in Washington.

Before that, the Democrat leader joined overseas-based Guyanese Rickford Burke at meetings denouncing alleged racism and poor governance in Guyana.

Dr. Ali maintains that Jeffries was misled by Burke, a known anti-PPP activist and critic of the Ali-led administration.

One day after President Ali and Jeffries engaged each other, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a team of officials travelled to Guyana for high-level discussions with President Ali and members of cabinet.

At a press conference held at the State House in Georgetown, after the two sides engaged each other, Blinken spoke about the US’ interest in deepening cooperation with Guyana.

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