GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The leader of the We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) political party and billionaire businessman, Azruddin Mohamed, says he remains confident that the United States will lift its one-year old sanctions on him, even as the Guyana government urged voters not to cast ballots in his favor during the September1 regional and general elections.
WIN political leader, Azruddin Mohamed, third from right, addressing news conference.Earlier this week, Washington signaled its uneasiness at the possibility Mohamed could emerge as the new head of state in Guyana following the elections and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, warned that Guyana’s financial system could face serious disruptions if Mohamed continues his ambitions for political office.
Mohamed is one of at least four candidates contesting the position of President during the elections. The others are the incumbent, Irfaan Ali of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Aubrey Norton of the main coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Nigel Hughes of the Alliance for Change (AFC).
Mohamed, had been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2024 for allegedly evading US$50 million in taxes payable to the Guyana government on more than 10,000 kilograms of gold exports.
But speaking at a news conference to launch the party’s manifesto, Mohamed told reporters “when we take office on the second of September, the United States of America will work with us.
“Since I was sanctioned, the financial system within the bank-heavy shortage of foreign currency but they won’t say this,” he said. Asked to react to the OFAC sanction, he would only say “I don’t know about that” and added that he was one of Guyana’s largest taxpayers.
He cited recently improved relations between President Donald Trump and his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa, telling reporters that his lawyers were working with OFAC “to get me delisted.
“I think, I am being very optimistic that very soon I will be delisted so that we ca work together with the United States of America,” he said.
US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, on Wednesday expressed concern that an individual sanctioned by OFAC becoming a member of parliament or a government committee, saying that could have serious implications for US-Guyana political relations and possibly a scaling back or pulling out of American investments here.
“The other things that concerns me more however, is that when you see an OFAC sanctioned individual become an official within a government, it sends concerns through the private sector in the United States will start rethinking their relationships within the country, we saw it in Afghanistan and other countries, they sometime tend to de-risk or cut ties with the country,” the Ambassador said, adding “they sometimes look to de-risk or to even cut ties with the country”.
But Mohamed said that Guyana is a sovereign country and his entry into the elections was a result of him responding to the people of Guyana.
“This is a sovereign nation. This is the will of the people, they want me to run for office. That is why I declared my candidacy- the people of this country,” he said and that his administration would finance the several programs and policies that are outlined in the manifesto by cutting “wasteful spending and corruption”.
WIN also said it would renegotiate the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement with the US-based oil and energy giant, ExxonMobil for “fairer terms” and “apply strict ring-fencing rules to all oil blocks” for the costs and expenses of each oil development project.
The party is promising that if it wins the elections, it will publish all extractive contracts in full, including annexes and fiscal terms, on a centralized, searchable portal and monitor and publish how oil revenues are spent in all sectors.
Mohamed also vowed to clamp down on the alleged smuggling of gold to Brazil and Venezuela by an unnamed gold dealer who is close to the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
“When I take office come the 2nd of September, I will ensure that all this gold- taxes must be paid on it and it will be exported to the United States of America or Dubai,” he said.
The party is also promising to increase the income tax threshold from GUY$130,000 to GUY$200,000, reduce income tax to 25 per cent, a gradual increase in salaries to 50 per cent and the duties on several categories of vehicles.
He said paying GUY$100,000 in old age pensions to 85,000 pensions would cost the Treasury GUY$60 billion annually. The party is also promising an increase in public assistance from GUY$22,000 to GUY$50,000; public assistance for individuals living with HIV and cancer will increase from GUY$14,000 to GUY$30,000, as well as a GUY$100,000 annual school cash grant, annual conditional cash transfers and possibly an increased private sector minimum wage.
But Nandlall has cautioned that banks could be compelled to sever ties with individuals linked to Mohamed’s party, risking broader instability in the economy. He made reference to what is already occurring within the local banking sector, indicating that political associations with Mohamed could potentially have ripple effects throughout the economy.
“If Mohamed ever gets close, not even to government, just to Parliament, all your bank accounts could be revoked,” he said, adding “the banking system is an institution.
“Once the germ is there, it will infect the entire system. So, all the other banks will have to follow suit if Demerara Bank has detected the problem,” he added.
