Biography of Cheddi Jagan
The two decades of the 70's and 80's were years of purposeful struggle to bring to a close the repeated electoral fraud and the illegitimate government of the PNC.
Civil rights were repeatedly violated. Cheddi Jagan exposed the assaults on freedom of the press, academic freedom, widespread discrimination, especially in employment, the denial of Amerindian rights and women's rights, the questionable administration of justice, the right to freedom of movement.During this period the PNC and IMF policies brought fear and anguish to the Guyanese people who shouldered heavier burdens as well as the draconian restrictions on essential goods, mainly foodstuff. Widespread shortages of foods, soap, and gasoline made life difficult, with thousands running away to other countries. All of this led to a deepening of the social crisis. These serious problems were addressed by Cheddi Jagan and his PPP.
Cheddi Jagan and the PPP always stood up against colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism, militarism and apartheid, by supporting national liberation movements and all democratic forces, as he did against the war in Vietnam. He identified with all freedom fighters around the world and embraced their individual causes as his own.
In July 1969 the PPP was accepted into the World Communist Movement. The PPP began transforming itself into a Marxist-Leninist party. As part of the organizational change, the leader of the Party, Dr. Jagan was elected General Secretary of the PPP.
Dr. Jagan pursued a philosophy of internationalism with great passion. He did so ever since he plunged into the political arena in the 1940s when in his early writings he supported the independence movement in India and the activities of Gandhi in pursuing peaceful resistance. This belief in peaceful resistance he maintained throughout his entire life. In the 1970s and 1980s when the struggle for democracy was intensifying, there were some in the struggle outside of the PPP who criticized him for not advocating non-peaceful resistance and sneeringly referred to him as Guyana's Gandhi.
Dr. Jagan wrote incessantly in local and foreign journals on politics, ideology and economics. During the period from the late 60’s to the late 80’s he established himself as one of the leading spokespersons from the Third World on the causes and elimination of poverty. His writings from the 70’s on these topics include “Poverty Cause and Cure in Developing Countries”, The Trade Unions and National Liberation”, “A West Indian State: Pro-Imperialist or Anti-Imperialist”, and “Non-Alignment as a Viable Alternative for Regional Cooperation” to name a few.
He was a fervent supporter of the Non-Aligned Movement and of all national liberation movements. He launched an international crusade against imperialism, and for peace, national liberation and social development. His firm belief in internationalism was expressed in his fight for world peace. He was always opposed to nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction. His contribution to the world-wide struggle for peace brought him international recognition and the position of a Vice-President of the World Peace Council, and President of the Guyana Peace Council.On February 23, 1970, Guyana became a Co-operative Republic and Dr. Jagan wrote: “The slogan ‘co-operative’ republic is a hoax, a fraud, to lull the Guyanese people into a false sense of security. It is the device to cloak, to hide the reality of a neo-colonialist, capitalist-imperialist republic.”
Dr. Jagan's international work carried him to most parts of the world and established him as an authoritative spokes-person on issues affecting the Third World. He visited Vietnam in August 1971 and also visited India and the refugee camps of East Pakistan.
The July 1973 general elections became notorious, not only by the extensive rigging, but with the use of the military to take over the ballot boxes which were held for lengthy periods at army headquarters. The PNC gave itself a two-thirds majority. Dr. Jagan wrote two articles about this election. He wrote: “What was witnessed on July 16 was not an election but a virtual army coup. The police and army seized and impounded and tampered with the ballot boxes.” Janet Jagan also spoke at meetings and used her pen to expose the PNC government. Her book on the 1973 rigged elections is still one of the best expose of violence perpetrated on the Guyanese people by the PNC. In the opening sentence she stated frankly and dramatically, "in Guyana the word "elections" has become synonymous with "fraud." The PPP boycotted the National Assembly for over a year in protest. The PNC began proclaiming itself as a Marxist-Leninist party.Cheddi Jagan on July 11, 1973 wrote: "How can you preach in Sunday school and elsewhere: 'thou shall not steal,' when stealing at the top has become the high road to ‘success;’ when the weapon of extortion is used to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen; when a whole government is stolen by rigged election; when the dead, the underaged and the non-existent vote at elections; when persons including pensioners, government employees, those in receipt of social assistance, and so on, are coerced into signing application forms for proxy and postal voting; when names are forged for proxy and postal voting, thus denying persons their right to vote; when the powers of the Elections Commission are eroded, the law requiring the publication of the list of proxies is broken, and ballot boxes are tampered with?"
Police raided Dr. Jagan’s home in September 1974 and took away parts of a revolver, eventually charging him with illegal possession. He was arrested, fined $25.00 and was released after a huge crowd of his supporters appeared at the Court House.
Sugar workers only got recognition, or rather a poll to determine which union they should have, towards the end of 1975 because of a 13 week strike in the Sugar Industry. Workers struck for seven weeks in the sugar industry in the first crop and they didn't get it; and six weeks in the second crop then the Government was forced to hold a poll. That was how the Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) was recognised. Cheddi Jagan wrote: “In the complex Guyana situation, the trade union movement must operate on the basis of unity and struggle or alliance and struggle. It must unite or allay itself with all those who are fighting for progressive and revolutionary positions, and at the same time struggle against all backward, reactionary, racist and anti-working class positions.”
Dr. Jagan always saw the need for a political solution in Guyana which would eliminate the problem of ethnic insecurity and lead to a restoration of democracy. While fighting rigged elections and authoritarian rule, he never lost the opportunity to undertake discussions with the People’s National Congress (PNC) or its leader Prime Minister and later President Forbes Burnham, in which he saw no contradiction since he relied on the principle of unity and struggle.
In August 1975 in light of the border threat from Venezuela and certain pro-socialist political and economic moves by the PNC regime, the PPP offered "critical support" to the PNC regime. The PPP was criticized by some for giving this support while some others condemned it for not giving total support. A few leading members from the latter group, including leading PPP members Ranji Chandisingh and Vincent Teekah, defected to the PNC. These defectors claimed that the PPP was too diverse and liberal in its philosophy, while the PNC was grounded solidly in Marxism-Leninism. During this period Dr. Jagan led the PPP in talks with Burnham at the latter’s invitation. However, these talks failed after Burnham demanded the retraction of a critical editorial in the “Mirror”.Dr. Jagan's restless pursuit of unity resulted in several years of collaboration with opposition political parties generally and on specific issues. In 1977 the PPP issued its proposals for a National Patriotic Front Government. The PNC rejected the proposals outright. The newly formed Working People's Alliance (WPA) expressed limited support saying that it was not supportive of the PNC being included.
Major events that Cheddi Jagan was involved in the 70s were the struggle for the freedom of Arnold Rampersaud - a PPP activist on a fraudulent charge of murder between 1975 and 1977, who was acquitted after an unprecedented three trials; and the struggle against the Referendum Bill in 1978 which was designed to postpone the General Elections due in 1978.In July 1978 the PNC postponed the general elections and called a referendum to vote for a constitutional change to allow the National Assembly to make future changes to the constitution. The PPP led a boycott, and over 70 percent of the voters stayed away. However, the PNC rigged this referendum in July 1978 to give itself over 97 of the votes agreeing to its proposal. It also declared that over 75 percent of the people turned out to vote!
The infamous Jonestown massacre, which took place in 1978, was a result of the deliberate policy of the PNC regime to turn its face away from the sinister developments in Jonestown.
Dr. Jagan received the Order of Friendship at the Kremlin (Moscow, USSR) on December 20, 1978. He said: “I wish on behalf of the PPP and myself to express our deep gratitude for the award of friendship which has been conferred on me by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. 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.”
