VZCZCXRO2774
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHGE #0372/01 1141553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241553Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3409
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0290
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000372 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR 
DS/IP/WHA 
DS/ICI/PII 
DS/DSS/ITA 
CARACAS FOR DAO AND LEGATT 
PORT OF SPAIN FOR DEA AND LEGATT 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV ASEC KCRM GY
SUBJECT: GOG CABINET MEMBER ASSASSINATED 
 
REF: A. GEORGETOWN 205 
 
     ¶B. GEORGETOWN 137 
     ¶C. GEORGETOWN 111 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Cabinet member and People's Progressive 
Party (PPP) insider Satyadeow Sawh was gunned down at his 
home April 22 in an apparent targeted assassination.  Most 
observers detect a political link behind the killing. 
Regardless of the motive, this adds more fuel to the fire as 
pre-election tensions continue rising in Guyana.  President 
Jagdeo plans to request external assistance in tracking down 
those responsible.  END SUMMARY 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Sawh: An Uncontroversial Cabinet Figure 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Satyadeow Sawh, Minister of Agriculture (acting), 
Fisheries, Other Crops and Livestock, was murdered at 
approximately 12:30 a.m. April 22 at his home in La Bonne 
Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara.  Indications are that 
six to ten masked men armed with AK-47s invaded Sawh's 
premises and killed Sawh, two siblings, and a security guard. 
 Three others were injured; Sawh's wife was unharmed. 
 
¶3. (U) Sawh was a jocular, well-liked, fifty year-old dual 
national of Guyana and Canada, where he spent much of his 
adult life and remained politically active in the PPP's 
overseas arm.  After the PPP won the 1992 national election 
he served as Guyana's ambassador in Caracas.  Sawh returned 
to Guyana in 1996, taking a seat in the National Assembly and 
assuming a cabinet position through the Fisheries, Other 
Crops and Livestock portfolio.  He took on the additional 
responsibility of acting Minster of Agriculture in 2003, but 
did not appear to have higher political ambitions.  His 
handling of severe flooding in coastal agricultural areas in 
early 2006 drew some criticism. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Motive Unclear but Signs Point to Assassination 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Various theories are circulating about what is 
behind the killings, but these reflect more conjecture than 
hard evidence.  Even Jagdeo and his Police Commissioner 
Winston Felix have different opinions - Jagdeo sees a 
political motive while Felix suspects robbery.  Sawh's 
killing does bear marks of a political assassination.  It 
comes on the heels of the April 6 murder of prominent local 
contractor Gazz Sheermohamed and the January 30 murder of 
talk-show host Ronald Waddell (ref C) in a similar fashion. 
Robbery does not appear to have been a primary motive in any 
of these cases.  Sawh's killers did not take much from his 
house; Sheermohamed's killers left a large amount of cash in 
the car where he was shot. 
 
-- One theory is that militant anti-government elements are 
behind the Sawh and Sheermohamed killings in a bid to provoke 
chaos.  This, according to their twisted logic, would lure 
the international community into taking a more active role in 
Guyana's internal politics and lead to the imposition of a 
shared government model.  The fact that Sawh's assailants 
came and left on foot supports this theory - Buxton, 
notorious as the nucleus of armed resistance against the 
government, is only three miles from Sawh's LBI home.  This 
is certainly the PPP's line: in his April 22 address to the 
nation, Jagdeo urged Guyanese "to prevent extremists from 
hijacking the political agenda".  The Cabinet has also 
announced its concern that the attack might be "part of a 
sinister plot to impact the outcome" of the upcoming 
elections. 
 
-- A second theory is that these killings are somehow related 
to the victims' involvement in unspecified criminal activity. 
 Such rumors about prominent Guyanese are commonplace. 
Although Sawh's work did bring him into contact with some 
very suspect individuals, most observers feel he was 
relatively clean. 
 
-- A third theory is that Sawh's killing was a random armed 
robbery.  But few believe this given the operation's 
efficiency and the use of assault rifles unavailable to the 
 
GEORGETOWN 00000372  002 OF 002 
 
 
common criminal in Guyana. 
 
¶5. (U) Elections are due in 2006 and Guyana has a long 
history of violence around election time.  This year is 
shaping up no differently.  Brazen robberies are occurring 
more frequently, often in broad daylight.  The levels of 
lawlessness and fear in Guyana are rising sharply. 
In late February, over thirty AK-47s and other powerful 
weapons were found missing from an army storehouse; then a 
heavily-armed group conducted a paramilitary-style operation 
in the Eccles and Agricola communities, executing eight after 
blockading the road to the international airport (ref A). 
Emerging reports indicate ballistic tests confirm that 
weapons used in Sawh's killing match those used in the 
Eccles/Agricola operation. 
 
¶6. (U) Several organizations, including the main opposition 
party PNC/R, have issued statements condemning the killings. 
Post plans to coordinate with the UK, Canadian, EU, and UN 
missions to issue a joint statement condemning these acts of 
violence, similar to the statement made after Waddell's 
murder. 
 
¶7. (U) Post's Emergency Action Committee (EAC) met April 22 
at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the killing and its implications 
(reported septel). 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Although Sawh's killing has horrified Georgetown, it 
has not truly surprised the political set.  Post's 
interlocutors have warned for over a year that the upcoming 
election season would bring with it political violence.  No 
one expects this to be the final salvo, although one hopes 
the ruling PPP will resist the temptation to use Sawh's 
killing to reap political gain by pinning this on the 
opposition without hard evidence.  The mood in Georgetown is 
marked both by somber introspection and by indignation with 
the security forces' inability to solve - let alone prevent - 
any of this year's execution-style killings.  Calling Sawh's 
death the first assassination of a government minister in 
Guyana's history, the independent Stabroek News' April 23 
editorial stated flatly, "We have crossed the Rubicon". 
Others are echoing this theme - vigilante justice rules in 
Guyana, which now resembles a big ranch more than a 
nation-state.  Felix will come under ever greater scrutiny 
and pressure to resign until he can demonstrate tangible 
progress in solving these cases.  It is certainly in the 
USG's interest to provide whatever assistance possible to 
help the overwhelmed police force in its investigations.  END 
COMMENT. 
BULLEN