South American president found on Facebook

Don't poke the prez

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Government, 2nd January 2009 11:28 GMT

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The President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo is warning people that an apparent profile of him on Facebook is in fact the work of a dastardly impostor.

According to reports yesterday Jagdeo complained to police that someone had set up a profile page in his name on Facebook - he had similar problems with another networking site in the summer.

But by today the page had disappeared. There is now a page for "Jagdeo Fans" which contains a message apparently from the person behind the original profile.

It explains:

Hi folks..I recently created a Facebook fan page (or so I thought) for my favourite Guyanese politician but didn't realize that the page was viewed as me impersonating President Jagdeo. In response to an article I saw on the BBC News Website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7807466.stm) I have deleted that page and created a new fan page that will hopefully provide clarification.
Mr. Jagdeo, I am NOT trying to impersonate you, your party, or government in any way. Not only is impersonation VERY illegal, but I am in no way associated with your office, the People's Progressive Party of Guyana, or know you personally.

Hopefully the name of this new page, "Jagdeo Fans" instead of "Bharrat Jagdeo" clarifies that I am trying to create a place where fellow admirers and fans can gather.

The page also apologises for any negative PR caused. Of course many politicians and business people employ PR teams to manage their Facebook pages, so perhaps Jagdeo should embrace his online helper.

The old page, still available via Google's cache, had 151 supporters and several romantic messages - Jagdeo divorced in 2007.

The tiny south American country has a population of 770,000. Jagdeo has been in power since 1999. ®

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