Gya: Poverty impediment to democracy and security

Guyana's ambassador to the OAS, Bayney Karran, said that the OAS must treat poverty as "an impediment to the integration process as well as to democracy and security." Karran, in his first presentation to the OAS Permanent Council, stated that "the growth of poverty," more than any current problem, can destabilize the hemisphere.

Did Guyana learn nothing from the Burnham years? Better democracy with poverty than riches with socialism. Is there the possibility of wealth acquisition in socialist countries? A brief survey of socialist countries would argue not, unless one has two sets of books and a Swiss bank account.

While Karran is right that poverty can destabilize a country or a region, the answer is not redistributive government policies, but the articulation and implementation of free-market policies which encourage investment and job growth. What worked for Hong Kong can very well work for Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean without solicitation of any handouts from the more wealthy United States.