GEORGETOWN, Guyana, April 01, 2015 – The United States Wednesday demanded Kaieteur News newspaper retract an article it published indicating that Washington had revoked the visas of four Guyana government officials.
In a statement, the US Embassy here said Washington had “not cancelled any visas of high-ranking Government officials nor is the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in country questioning individuals as the article states”.
Kaieteur News later admitted that the story was purely a work of fiction and was an April Fools joke.
But the US Embassy said there was nothing amusing about the story, noting that “Kaieteur News exercised poor judgment in printing this article under the auspices of an April Fools joke.
“The US Embassy calls for an immediate retraction of the article by Kaieteur News in both their online and print versions of their newspaper.”
The newspaper article carried a February 29 reference date which is non-existent this year.
Editor in Chief of Kaieteur News, Adam Harris, told a Guyana-based new organization “News Source” that there were several sign posts in the story suggesting that it was an April Fools Joke and the US Embassy recognized that in its own press release. (CMC)
