In the gleaming conference rooms where Guyana’s economic statistics are celebrated, the numbers tell a remarkable story. For five consecutive years, this South American nation has boasted the world’s fastest-growing economy, fueled by unprecedented oil discoveries that have transformed it into a global energy player. Yet beyond the polished presentations and compelling charts lies a troubling reality that Amanza Walton-Desir, leader of the Forward Guyana movement, refuses to ignore.
“It’s growth without inclusion,” she states with the directness that has become her political trademark. “While we look very good on paper, that reality is not getting down to the ordinary Guyanese man or woman.”
The paradox is stark and undeniable: in a nation where someone can secure a $400 million loan, 48% of the population still lives on just $5 a day. This isn’t merely an economic disparity—it’s the symptom of what Walton-Desir calls “a broken system” that has trapped Guyana in a cycle of exclusion for six decades.
For most Guyanese, political engagement has meant choosing a side in an ethnic chess game where victory for one community inevitably means defeat for another. The APNU coalition draws predominantly from Afro-Guyanese voters, while the PPP’s base is largely Indo-Guyanese. This division, Walton-Desir argues, isn’t accidental—it’s structural.
“The two-party system literally is designed to continue to pit us against each other,” she explains, drawing from her own experience of stepping away from established opposition politics. “You pick a camp and you be quiet. When an Afro-Guyanese crosses over, they’re called a ‘soup drinker’ or ‘slave.’ When an Indo-Guyanese is seen supporting the APNU, the cultural pressures they face are real.”
After years of delivering what she describes as “compelling presentations, thorough and factual analysis, making compelling cases,” Walton-Desir reached a painful conclusion: “Nothing changed. The mindset of government and governance in this country is that you will have your say, but we will have our way.”
This realization forced a deeper reckoning. In a country facing an “existential threat” from Venezuela while managing unprecedented oil wealth, the traditional political framework seemed not just inadequate but dangerous. “When one party is in office, half of the country feels locked out. When another party is in office, the other half feels locked out.”
Perhaps nowhere is the failure of current governance more evident than in Guyana’s handling of Venezuelan migration. By the foreign secretary’s own admission, over 100,000 Venezuelans now live in Guyana—a number that represents 10% of the country’s population. Walton-Desir’s analysis is both precise and alarming: “You have 100,000 people who are unregistered, unregulated, with a belief that Essequibo belongs to them.” This isn’t ordinary migration, she insists. “The deliberate injection of population into a country is a tool of hybrid warfare.”
The mathematics are sobering. With approximately 7,000 votes determining a parliamentary seat, the political implications of unchecked migration become clear. “Do you understand how the balance of power could be completely removed from the hands of Guyanese?” she asks.
Even more concerning is how this situation developed. Walton-Desir alleges that the PPP administration deliberately facilitated this migration by gutting registration requirements. Where previously, late birth registrations required multiple forms of evidence, the law was changed to allow a single affidavit from a “person of high standing” to suffice.
“People who can’t read or speak a lick of English have names like Terrence Blackman and have entered our electoral roll,” she claims, suggesting systematic manipulation of the voter base for political advantage.
At the heart of Guyana’s dysfunction lies a constitution that concentrates too much power in the executive while providing no meaningful enforcement mechanisms for democratic principles. Article 13 speaks of “inclusive democracy,” but as Walton-Desir notes, “it is just flowery language, and there’s nothing underpinning the enforcement of that paradigm.”
The result is a system where 51% of the vote grants 100% of the power, creating what she calls “winner-takes-all politics.” Constitutional reform has been promised for decades, yet it never materializes. “People promise reform, and then when they get the sweet seat, suddenly it’s kicked down the road.”
The PPP’s handling of constitutional reform after the 2020 electoral crisis exemplifies this pattern. Despite nearly a billion dollars allocated to the process, “the constitutional reform committee has not met on a single substantive issue.”
Forward Guyana represents something different—not just another political party, but a deliberate attempt to break the cycle. The movement emerged organically from three newer political organizations that discovered their agreements outweighed their differences on core issues: ending corruption, dismantling winner-takes-all politics, and properly managing the nation’s oil wealth.
“We didn’t unite for convenience,” Walton-Desir emphasizes. “We realized that what we agreed upon was more than what we disagreed upon.”
The movement’s approach to oil negotiations illustrates their pragmatic philosophy. While acknowledging that “sanctity of contract is a thing that has to be honored,” they argue that renegotiation is normal business practice. The key difference is capacity: “The entire sector is run by Barry Jagdeo and two other people. We do not have the institutional capacity to approach negotiating in any way, shape or form.”
Their solution involves building proper institutions, engaging international expertise, and learning from countries like Norway that have successfully managed oil wealth. “We are already receiving revenue that we can’t manage, not because we don’t have Guyanese with the expertise, but because we are at the mercy of a cabal that insists on doing the wrong thing.”
Perhaps nothing captures Guyana’s dysfunction better than the collapse of meritocracy. Walton-Desir paints a devastating picture: a university graduate with excellent grades watching someone with five CXC subjects get a position because of connections. “The demoralizing effect of that is something we cannot begin to comprehend.”
This extends beyond individual frustration to national crisis. The nurse-to-patient ratio at Georgetown Hospital is 30:1, compared to the international standard of 6:1. Skilled professionals are leaving the country in droves, not just for better pay but because they can’t see a future built on merit rather than connections.
“We have to restore meritocracy,” she argues. “Once that mindset is restored, we will incentivize our best and brightest to stay here.”
The Venezuela situation represents more than just migration policy—it’s a test of Guyana’s ability to protect its sovereignty while managing complex geopolitical pressures. Walton-Desir advocates for absolute unity across party lines on territorial integrity: “There ought to be no daylight between us when it comes to our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”
Yet she places responsibility for the current crisis squarely on the PPP administration’s shoulders. The unchecked migration, the compromised registration system, and the failure to address warnings dating back to 2021 have created what she terms “a soft invasion.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Venezuela, with over 20 million people, could easily overwhelm Guyana’s 800,000 population through demographic engineering. “Maduro is playing a game. He will continue to encourage Venezuelans to come here and undermine us from within.”
While oil revenues dominate headlines, Walton-Desir warns against the “supremely dangerous” reliance on a single commodity. Drawing lessons from Venezuela’s economic collapse, she advocates for aggressive diversification into agriculture, agro-processing, and light manufacturing.
“We can eat everything today and have our children starve tomorrow,” she warns. “Venezuela is a cautionary tale about how when oil wealth is mismanaged, a nation and people suffer.”
The irony is painful: as Venezuelans flee economic hardship to take menial jobs in Guyana, the lesson should be clear. Proper management requires building institutions, closing the 41% efficiency gap caused by corruption, and thinking beyond the current political cycle.
The Forward Guyana movement’s message transcends traditional political appeals. This is about more than winning elections—it’s about breaking a sixty-year cycle of dysfunction that has trapped the nation in ethnic division and institutional weakness.
“These elections coming here are not about left or right,” Walton-Desir declares. “They’re about forward or backward.”
The movement’s strength lies in its clarity about the challenges ahead. They acknowledge that constitutional reform might be “politically naive” in the short term but argue it’s essential for long-term survival. They understand that Guyanese need to see unity in action, not just rhetoric about it.
“We are a credible alternative to the status quo,” she asserts. “We have not been compromised by bribes and corruption and graft. We can stand and hold everybody accountable without fear or favor.”
As Guyana approaches another electoral moment, the choice has rarely been clearer or more consequential. The traditional two-party system offers more of the same: ethnic division, institutional weakness, and the gradual erosion of sovereignty through demographic manipulation and poor governance.
Forward Guyana offers something different: the possibility that Guyanese can move beyond the false choice between two forms of exclusion toward genuine power-sharing and institutional strength.
“We cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result,” Walton-Desir concludes. “You have before you a team of credible people who are willing to work, willing to reach across the aisle. No one political party in Guyana has all the answers.”
The task ahead requires not just political change but a fundamental shift in how Guyanese see themselves and their country. It means moving from a culture of patronage to one of merit, from ethnic loyalty to national unity, from short-term political gain to long-term institutional building.
The oil wealth provides an unprecedented opportunity, but as Venezuela’s example shows, natural resources alone cannot guarantee prosperity. What matters is the quality of institutions, the strength of democratic governance, and the ability of leaders to put national interest above partisan advantage.
Guyana stands at a crossroads. The path forward requires courage from both leaders and citizens—the courage to break old patterns, to trust new approaches, and to believe that a different future is possible. The alternative is to remain trapped in cycles that have impoverished the nation’s potential for six decades.
The choice, as Walton-Desir reminds us, belongs to the people. “To the degree that you vote in accordance with your conscience, it could never be a wasted vote, because that is the essence of democracy.”
The question now is whether Guyanese will choose the difficult path of transformation or the familiar comfort of division. The nation’s future—and perhaps its very sovereignty—hangs in the balance.
Please view the whole conversation here:
Guyana Business Journal
Aug 12, 2025
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Guyana Business Journal
What Barbados Built