Good morning, Guyana. Oil is flowing, money is missing, and a policeman is on video threatening to murder a man. Wednesday.
OIL MONEY CAME IN. ALL OF IT.
Guyana collected US$761 million in oil revenue in the first quarter of 2026. That is a lot of money. The government would like you to focus on this number and not on any of the other numbers in today’s brief.
GOVERNMENT DENIES SECRET PAYOUT. CONFIRMS SECRET PAYOUT.
The Office of the Prime Minister issued a statement saying there were “no secret payments” made to Gas-to-Energy contractor Lindsayca-CH4. Kaieteur News then reported that Guyana lost an arbitration, was ordered to pay US$106 million, negotiated it down to US$82 million, and told nobody. The government calls this “not secret.” Linguists are standing by.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips has staked his credibility on GTE producing power by December 2026. His credibility has been staked to so many things at this point it resembles a vampire film.
GAS CONTRACTOR DIRECTOR LINKED TO VENEZUELA CORRUPTION
The Project Director of the Wales gas site, one Rubén Figuera, has a history involving frozen bank accounts in Andorra and an intimate relationship with the Maduro regime’s asset-stripping operation. He is currently running Guyana’s most critical energy infrastructure. Vetting, apparently, is for other countries.
Meanwhile, Lindsayca executives continue to fly Houston-to-Georgetown on a private Hawker jet at US$70,000 per week. Citizens experiencing blackouts are invited to wave at the plane.
COP ON VIDEO: “I WILL KILL YOU”
An off-duty Assistant Superintendent of Police was captured on video directing obscene language and death threats at a civilian. He then was surrounded by fellow officers — who were there, it appears, to de-escalate, though the video suggests they mostly just stood around him in a concerned formation.
The GPF has referred the matter to the Office of Professional Responsibility. The officer is under investigation. The civilian is presumably checking under his car each morning.
SURINAME CHARGING RIVER FEES
Suriname has imposed fees for vessels using the Corentyne River. Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh called this “most regrettable.” Riverain communities are bracing for rising costs. Guyana and Suriname remain friendly neighbours in the way that neighbours are friendly when one of them starts charging you to use the road between your houses.
ST KITTS SIGNS THREE MoUs WITH GUYANA
President Ali and PM Terrance Drew signed agreements on agriculture, food security, digital governance, and defence cooperation. Guyana also welcomed St Kitts into the Global Biodiversity Alliance. It was a productive Wednesday at the Office of the President, which is more than can be said for most Wednesdays.
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD DIES AFTER GOALPOST COLLAPSES
Michael Hyderkhan, seven years old, Grade Two pupil of Swan Primary School, died Friday evening when a goalpost at the Swan ball field along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway fell on him during a community football tournament. He had come to watch his father play. His mother told Kaieteur News: “I am in disbelief.” The community ground, the unsafe equipment, the children playing unsupervised in the dark — all of it ordinary. All of it preventable. Rest easy, Michael.
TEEN DROWNED, BODY RECOVERED
The body of a teenager was recovered after a jet ski drowning incident. No further details at time of publication. The Essequibo Coast continues to claim lives at a rate that suggests someone should be paying closer attention.
Guyana Daily Brief. Reading the papers so your blood pressure doesn’t have to spike before 8am. Mostly.