A democratic regression
Mar 29, 2026
Front Page Comment
(Kaieteur News) – Guyana may be the world’s fastest-growing economy, but it is fast becoming a place where information moves at a crawl. As billions flow and projects multiply, the public is told less about what is being decided in its name.
The disappearance of regular Cabinet press briefings is a democratic regression. A government that once spoke, however selectively, now largely falls silent. Press conferences by the President and Ministers are few and far apart. Independent media houses place calls that go unanswered. They send queries that vanish. And the few times that access is finally granted, they are met with the now-standard shield: “No comment.” This is not governance; it is evasion elevated to policy.
Officials, both elected and appointed, appear increasingly insulated from scrutiny. The message is unmistakable: information will be dispensed on the government’s terms, not the public’s. This appears to be a deliberate strategy to starve the independent press of oxygen. A press deprived of access cannot effectively inform, question, or challenge. It becomes reactive, speculative, and ultimately weakened—precisely the outcome that benefits those who prefer to operate without oversight.
Access to information and to public officials is the litmus test of any government’s commitment to accountability. A free press cannot hold power to account if power refuses access, answer questions, or explain decisions.
The irony is thick. Even as leaders speak loftily about transparency and accountability, the basic mechanisms that give those words meaning are being dismantled.
Guyana’s economic boom should be accompanied by a strengthening of democratic practices, not their quiet erosion. Growth without openness breeds suspicion; development without accountability invites abuse. If the government continues down this path of calculated silence, it risks undermining not just the media, but the very legitimacy that transparency is meant to secure.
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