Given Mr. Hoyte's latest stand on the dialogue President Bharrat Jagdeo initiated with him last year, the PNC/R Leader could not have been very comfortable to hear Ambassador Godard, at the July 4 reception, urge a resumption of the dialogue in the best interest of the country.

At the reception, Mr. Goddard joined President Jagdeo in urging dialogue instead of resort to terroristic acts to resolve social and political problems in a democratic state.

The reception had followed the July 3 unprecedented invasion of the Presidential Complex that resulted in two shooting deaths, six others being wounded and acts of looting and arson in a day of political turmoil in Georgetown.

Mr. Jagdeo said then that he stood "ready and open to dialogue in the national interest", a reference to the decision by Mr. Hoyte to suspend the dialogue process that had been established with the Guyanese President a year ago following the March 19, 2001 general election at which the incumbent People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was returned for a third term.

Ambassador Goddard assured President Jagdeo that his government and others in the international community "stand ready to be of assistance to support Guyanese democracy", and referred to cooperative efforts to "enhance participation and strengthen Guyana's democratic institutions", including working with the Guyana Elections Commission.

He said his government recognises that "both security and democracy depend on the economic well being of our citizens", adding that "political stability is the first building block." This, said the U.S. envoy, "makes the resumption of the political dialogue to resolve Guyana's political impasse even more crucial..."

Mr. Godard said an early resumption of talks between President Jagdeo and Mr. Hoyte can lead Guyana's "troubled" and "frightened" society back to a sense of security.

Mr. Jagdeo said, "We must stop making excuses and setting obstacles to dialogue. In our case, dialogue is not only the preferred way, it is the only feasible and acceptable way for us to solve our problems and I will remain untiring in my pursuit of solutions to our national problems."

Since then, several organisations and other major western countries have joined in urging a resumption of the dialogue process and there have even been calls for the dialogue to be expanded to cover all parties in Parliament and some elements of civil society.

But Mr. Hoyte at a news conference Thursday signaled that he was not comfortable with these exhortations.

"All these people are suddenly jumping out...and saying 'dialogue, dialogue, dialogue'. The dialogue is not going to solve issues", he declared, while adding that the dialogue would not be unhelpful.

When former U.S. President Jimmy Carter became involved in the mediation process in 1990 that cleared the way for the first free and fair elections in some 30 years here on October 5, 1992, Mr. Hoyte at the beginning had firmly resisted agreeing to the sweeping electoral reforms.

In the end he was persuaded that the reforms were in the best interest of the country and agreed to the changes that saw an end to his party's 28 years in power.