Guyana moving to negotiate 'corruption' accord with U.S.
Guyana Chronicle
January 20, 2004
Related Links: Articles on corruption
Letters Menu Archival Menu

GINA -- GUYANA is moving to negotiate an agreement with the United States on corruption.
so says President Bharrat Jagdeo.
At the recent summit of the Americas in Monterrey, the U.S. pushed for strong language on terrorism and corruption. This was communicated to the Government of Guyana prior to the conference and according to President Jagdeo Guyana requested a bilateral agreement with the U.S. on corruption, rather than wait on the conclusion of a multilateral agreement.

"It's not only terrorism that concerns us; poverty is also a concern to countries of our hemisphere and we should not await the multilateral agreement on corruption. I would like to move forward with the U.S. to have a bilateral agreement which could be negotiated speedily to share information on illegal accounts that Guyanese may have in the U.S.," the President said.

He noted that there are instances of money laundering and other such corruption in which Guyanese living in the U.S. are involved.

"We want to share information on corrupt Government officials and corrupt people in the private sector. Many people may get accounts based on tax evasion, money laundering," the President said.

The request has not yet materialized. However, U.S. Ambassador in Guyana Roland Bullen is following up the issue and keeping him up to date on developments, the Head of State said.