C. Jagan - Opposition Leader

Articles by Cheddi Jagan

Speech of Cheddi Jagan on receipt of Order of Friendship at the Kremlin on December 20, 1978

(On March 22, 1978 Dr. Jagan was awarded the Order of Friendship with the Peoples by the Soviet Union on the occasion of his 60th birthday. On December 20, 1978 he was presented with this Order at the Kremlin.)

Dear Comrades,

             I wish on behalf of the People’s Progressive Party and myself to express our deep gratitude for the Award of Friendship with the Peoples, which has been conferred on me by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

            We deeply appreciate this high honour. And we gladly accept it as recognition of the role we have played in developing friendship with the land of Lenin and the heroic Soviet people, and also with the peoples of the whole world.

            We deeply cherish our friendship with the Soviet Union. The Great October Socialist Revolution paved the way for ending exploitation of man by man; for eliminating national and cultural oppression; and for building a secure future.

            Based on friendship and humanism, the first acts of the young Soviet states were the freeing of the nationalities, oppressed and dehumanized by exploitation and tyranny; the proclamation of the Peace Decree for an end to militarism and war and for an era of peace; the adumbration of a policy of peaceful coexistence and proletarian internationalism. A hand of friendship was extended to the workers of the world who were exploited by capitalism, and to the oppressed peoples who were suppressed by imperialist colonialism.

            For us, friendship with the Soviet Union has a deep emotive content based on realism: the heroism and sacrifice of the great Soviet people – their defeat of the interventionists and the counter-revolutionaries who wanted to turn back the clock of history; their rescue of the peoples of the world from the jaws of Hitlerite fascism; their generous disinterested assistance to all those struggling for national and social liberation.

            We are aware that in many vital areas – the Far East, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean – successes would not have been achieved without the sacrifice and help of the Soviet people. We vividly recall the dark days of the early 1960’s when valuable Soviet assistance was rendered to the Guyanese people in the face of Anglo-American aggression and CIA intervention in our domestic affairs.

            For us in the PPP and the vast majority of the Guyanese people, friendship with the Soviet Union has been and will continue to be a cornerstone of our policy. We deeply treasure our friendship with the Soviet people.

            It is a happy coincidence that on the same date I am receiving this high honour, Comrade Leonid Brezhnev has been awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

            Permit me to take this opportunity to wish him a happy birthday, good health and long life so that he can continue his able leadership of the CPSU and the Soviet nation.

            Long live the Friendship of the Peoples of the World!

            Long live Friendship between the Peoples of Guyana and the Soviet Union!

            Long live Peace and International Solidarity!

© Nadira Jagan-Brancier 2000