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“We have absolutely no interest in interfering in your elections”
– U.S. Ambassador says after criticisms by Guyanese over comments on Mohamed candidacy
United States Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot
Kaieteur News – Amid a backlash from Guyanese over her comments on the candidacy of Businessman, Azruddin Mohamed, U.S. Ambassador on Wednesday said the United States has “absolutely no interest in interfering” in this country’s elections.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event at the Umana Yana in Georgetown, Ambassador Theriot said she was “a little upset” by the characterisation that her comments were viewed as an attempt to influence the election outcome. She highlighted that the U.S. is only providing support in the area of election security. Ambassador Theriot stated, “We have absolutely no interest in interfering in your elections… I have no interest or intention of interfering in the government of Guyana’s election. This is a sovereign country. You run your elections as you see fit… how you run your elections are entirely up to you.”
Mohamed was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2024. He is the presidential candidate for the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) a party launched in June 2025 and is among the six political parties contesting the September 1 General and Regional Elections.
On June 23, Ambassador Theriot disclosed that the U.S. was very concerned about the possibility of Mohamed entering government and how that would affect the dynamics between the U.S. and Guyana. She contended that Mohamed being in government is problematic in multiple ways and explained that if someone sanctioned by OFAC were to become part of the administration, it would restrict or change how the U.S. government interacts with that government. She said too that the situation would likely raise concern among U.S. private sector entities already operating in Guyana or planning to invest.
In response, international lawyer Melinda Janki had noted that Mohamed has satisfied the conditions of running for public office in Guyana and that Guyanese voters are entitled to vote for him if they wish. Janki had described the ambassador’s earlier remarks as a “clumsy attempt” to influence the election’s outcome. Nevertheless, on Wednesday, Ambassador Theriot said she stands by her comments and made it clear that what she said was factual. “I was asked what being OFAC sanctioned meant in terms of the U.S. government being able to work with an individual, and I simply gave the facts, that have occurred in other countries where OFAC sanctioned individuals have been a member of the government, and how the U.S. government had to adjust, how we worked with that government,” she explained.
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