- during press conferences in New YorkPRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has strongly rebuffed claims by some Guyanese-Americans, chief of whom was Rickford Burke, President of the Caribbean-Guyana Institute for Democracy, who continuously accuse his administration of being racist and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of ‘ethnocracy’.Burke has, over the years, been promoting the notion that serious race problems exist in Guyana and that Afro-Guyanese are being marginalised by the ruling party.But speaking at a news conference he hosted in between the New York conference on the Caribbean that ended yesterday, President Jagdeo was quoted in a report by the Carib World News (CWN) as saying this is totally not the case in Guyana where all of the races are integrated.CWN quoted the Guyanese Head of State as saying that, “If you go through the three branches of government, you’ll see it looks like Guyana”. He also debunked claims that there is serious tension between Afro and Indo Guyanese, noting that it is the ‘extremists’ of the two races who have been promoting this view, noting that investigations by the United Nations (UN) and the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) revealed no evidence of institutionalised racism in the country.“This is a country that is deeply integrated…I’m just worried that good, decent Guyanese people are getting the wrong impression of Guyana”, he asserted as he blamed the press for their continuous reports of Burke’s opinions.The President disclosed that while in New York, he had an unproductive meeting with Burke and that discussions as such would not get anywhere as Burke was too prejudiced.The CWN reported that one reporter asked the President if he would consider a truce with Burke but he said, “Truce? There is no war.”In the meantime, the President used the forum to reassure those interested in travelling to Guyana for the tenth Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) that they need not worry about security as this was being addressed. He alluded to other major events which have been successfully hosted in the country already, including the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, the Rio Group Summit and matches for Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007.“Security standards had to be at an international level for these events…we passed with flying colours. We have a security plan to make sure everything goes smoothly,” CWN quoted the Guyanese Leader as saying.President Jagdeo also reportedly addressed the problem of reduced flights and increased costs of these to Guyana, attributing these to the rising cost of fuel.However, he suggested too that some airlines may be charging high fares to customers travelling to Guyana and his Government is looking into this.