It began with a video that lit up social media, an interview in which gold dealer Junior Baksh claimed there was a conspiracy involving a government minister, senior foreign military officials, a prominent businessman, and even a relative of the president.
Baksh now says that video should never have been made public. According to him, the interview was recorded when he feared for his life and was to be released only if he granted permission or if harm came to him.
“I’m still alive. I never gave permission,” he said in a statement, questioning the motives behind its circulation. He has threatened legal action against the journalist who conducted the interview and others who broadcast it.
Against this backdrop of renewed public attention on the gold industry, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo announced yesterday that the government would take “tougher actions” to tackle gold smuggling, calling the revenue losses “massive.”
The opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is not convinced. In a statement, the party said Jagdeo’s pledge follows a pattern of big promises that have failed to deliver. “As with all his previous promises of crackdowns and investigations, this one is just as empty. It is a typical political ploy meant to deflect and cover up,” APNU claimed.
The party pointed to the 2022 VICE News broadcast that carried allegations of bribe-taking and corruption involving Jagdeo. APNU says that although the Vice-President publicly supported calls for an immediate investigation at the time, no such probe has occurred in the three years since. Jagdeo has repeatedly denied those allegations.
APNU also accused the government of ignoring Jagdeo’s 2023 statement about “certain families hogging the majority of contracts” under the public procurement system, claiming the situation has only worsened.
Jagdeo maintains that his administration has taken steps to strengthen oversight in the gold sector and will continue to implement measures aimed at rooting out smuggling.
The political fight over gold smuggling is now tangled with the controversy over Baksh’s interview, leaving Guyanese watching to see whether this latest promise from the government will lead to tangible action—or become another chapter in a long-running war of words over corruption and accountability.
