I thought I would start this inaugural lecture with these recollections
because at the time of his death on March 6, 1997, these were the ideas and solutions to a
critical world situation that were uppermost in his mind.
In my Opening Address to the Ministerial Meeting I referred to an
unpublished speech which he prepared in 1997 to give at this same university. He had
planned to visit Canada on his way back from England where he had planned to undergo some
medical tests. But as fate would have it, he never made that trip.
The part I quoted was this: "While all our countries are individually
searching for more aggressive and innovative ways to cope with the growing
inter-dependence and globalisation taking place, there are fundamental issues which can be
addressed only by new global initiatives. It is clear that if present worldwide trends
continue, tensions, conflicts and disorders of potentially disastrous consequences could
become the order of the day.
"Disaster can be avoided. As an adjunct to the UN Agenda for
Development, Guyana has been advocating a New Global Human Order which must have as its
goal human development: meeting the basic needs of the people; cultural upliftment and a
clean and safe environment. The proposal is founded expressly on the requirement for
guaranteeing to every woman, man and child the rights, respect and recognition that have
been so well underscored by international agreements; for ensuring effective, democratic,
accountable and transparent governance, gender equality and empowerment of women,
reduction of mortality rates for infants and children, primary health care systems to
reproductive health services for individuals, diminished prevalence of disease,
environment sustainability and regeneration, and basic capacity building for efficiency
and effectiveness; for combating the environmental degradation; for attention the root
causes of poverty with diametric reduction by the year 2015 for securing the physical and
material well-being of people through economic growth and development; and for
facilitating these objectives through a global partnership that assures support for their
attainment.
"It is relevant to note that Science and Technology today has within
its grasp the ability, if properly harnessed, to cut hunger in half within a few years.
But this will require a sound scientific development strategy, wider intellectual
understanding, strong political will, deeper moral commitment and effective policy
measures - a balanced and integrated set of economic, financial and social policies. There
is an interconnection and interaction between the economic, political, institutional,
ideological, ecological, social and cultural spheres.
"We also need to establish new global institutions to respond to the
global dimension of the existing human society. The UN itself has to play a more central
role in global economic management and should have access to larger financial resources --
the possible source of which we have already identified. The Bretton Woods Institutions --
the World Bank and the IMF -- have moved away from their original mandate and have to be
brought back to doing what were originally intended. They need to concentrate on human
development as distinct from the means of development. They have to be more concerned with
social and human factors than with statistics of growth. We need structural adjustment
with a human face."
Cheddi Jagan was indeed a visionary and while his detractors would often
disregard his analysis as being irrelevant, concrete reality itself bore him out to be
correct. And many of his detractors would attempt to wish him and his ideas away as being
steeped in Marxism or this or that -ism. The fact of the matter is that those detractors
have been proven on many occasions to be suffering from a poverty of ideas and are often
more inclined to leave things as they are. But Cheddi was a persistent advocate for
change. He never gave up. He was convinced that the world situation would get worse, in
spite of the ending of the cold war and the collapse of the socialist world. Not long
before his death, in October of 1996, he attended the World Food Summit in Rome. A
commentator, David Bacon ha this to say: "None of the new participants in the world
food debate had any simple solutions to offer. But they made it clear that pieties are no
longer enough. Guyana President Cheddi Jagan, once the target of CIA destabilization
efforts, offered the most eloquent testimony for the countries of the South when he called
the idea that privatisation, free markets and foreign investment would lead to food
security "a myth." Many mistook his warnings as a way of hoping for the return
of the bi-polar world. His grounding, however, was far beyond their understanding. He had
repeatedly confounded his detractors because they never understood this philosophy. His
world outlook cannot be understood within the limited confines of any particular ideology:
while he was committed to a Marxist outlook, he saw development of Guyana within the
context its own historical experience and modern systems of democracy. Throughout his
political life, he was successful in creating more and more political space for his people
and country to survive in a world unsympathetic to those who have been historically
disadvantaged.
Freedom and equality was his banner. As he promoted the cause of Guyana in
the wider world he found that the so called advocates of freedom and equality were indeed
the same forces that betrayed those lofty ideals and kept his people and country in
poverty and under-development. The open support by the hemispheric superpower for
reactionary forces and dictatorship and the suppression of the democratic will of the
people was a major disappointment for him. The manoeuvrings of the British colonialists
and the connivance of American imperialism to stem the tide for independence and a
democratic government in Guyana fuelled his disillusionment with the West and its brand of
democracy. It was ironic that those same forces that robbed him of his legitimate claim to
lead his people to prosperity supported his efforts to bring back democracy to Guyana. But
what trauma a people had to endure! No nation deserves to be put through such a nightmare.
What was good for Guyana was always pivotal to his understanding of the
world situation and his analysis of the situation at home and abroad was premised on the
firm belief that Guyana must adopt the democratic model but within the framework of
self-determination and economic progress. His tactical political platform was always
situated within this wider strategy for a democratic, free and prosperous Guyana.
Cheddi's long march from Port Mourant, a small rural village in the
eastern part of Guyana, to become the first freely elected President of Guyana, until his
return to Port Mourant where he was cremated, spanned a half of a century. During that
period, he did what few men have done in their lifetime: he committed himself to a single
goal of freedom for his country and people and never, even for once, wavered. In many ways
his struggles and his accomplishments are so intertwined with the history of his country
that sometimes it is difficult to study one without the other. Having dominated so much of
Guyana's post World War II history, he perhaps contradicted his own view that history is
not made by individuals but by the people. But that is only seemingly so. In fact he was
the embodiment of the people's struggles. He became their most ardent defender, teacher
and organiser. He never marched alone and that is perhaps the most single important reason
for his success. He captured their basic interests in his programmatic platforms and
defended these with a missionary zeal unmatched by any one in the last hundred years in
Guyana. The same way he became their hope for liberation, in similar fashion he was their
conscience. He was always there when the people needed him most and they put their faith
in him, as one they knew would never betray the cause.
Today, two years after this Guyanese hero passed away, his countrymen
continue to be inspired by his lifelong example of struggles, steadfastness, honesty and
incorruptibility. This is perhaps what he wanted. All his life he was obsessed with this
passion to convince others to understand the reasons for their bondage and for people to
immerse themselves in liberating ideas. He knew that his people, having been brutalised
under slavery and indentureship, must first liberate themselves and have hope in
themselves. Only then can they liberate their country from slavery, bondage and economic
backwardness. He has inspired his people to struggle for freedom, to live lives of honesty
and to persist in achieving lofty goals in their personal lives and for the country.
Today, as we look back, we ask ourselves: What manner of man was this?
What soul was it that went out there to do battle, sometimes single-handedly, with the
mightiest of powers in the world? From whence came that inner strength to resist pain and
injustice done to him and his people?
Cheddi Jagan was brought up on a sugar plantation. His parents came to
Guyana as children of indentured immigrants from India at the turn of the century. Those
were hard days in the plantations. His parents began working in the backdam at an early
age to assist with the family income. In fact, there was nothing else to do for the
children of poor immigrants. At the time of his birth on March 22, 1918, the probability
that he would have had any educational opportunity was almost non-existent. As he himself
explained in his West on Trial, "The planters frowned upon education because they
held the view that an educated worker would soon become dissatisfied with his status as an
agricultural labourer. What they needed above all was a cheap and abundant supply of
agricultural labourer."
Cheddi went to primary school and like most country boys lived and
experienced a childhood of intense poverty – the height of satisfaction being the
Saturday night treat of sardines and biscuits. His entrance into a secondary school was a
major sacrifice on the part of his parents - fees were high. This experience led him in
later years to introduce free secondary education throughout the country. A major turn in
his life came when his parents decided to send him to Queens College, the premier
secondary, in Georgetown. His student life in the city led him to a keener understanding
of class divisions. As he put it, later in analysing the impact of sugar on life in
Guyana, the "plantation was a world of its own. Or rather it was two worlds: the
world of exploiters and the world of exploited; the world of whites and the world of
non-whites."
Cheddi completed his studies in Georgetown and had hoped, at best, for a
civil service job in Georgetown. But even this did not come his way. He tried to land a
job for a year but could find none. He could have entered the teaching service but first
he had to become a Christian: his parents would have none of that. The idea of studies
overseas was aroused by friends and in 1936, at the age of eighteen, he travelled to the
United States where he spent seven years - two in Washington and five in Chicago. It was
during his stay in Chicago that we met, married and came to Guyana.
Those were seven important years in the life of Cheddi Jagan and in many
ways were responsible for him becoming such a consummate politician - a man with a
mission. It is not without significance that in the chapter of his West on Trial on his
years in the USA he quoted these lines from the United States Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Throughout his political career he was to
refer, with great admiration. to the experience of the American Revolution, the ideals of
the Declaration of the Independence and his experience in the United States, especially
the years of the depression and Roosevelt's New Deal. Up until the time of his death he
was to draw from this experience. In his advocacy for a New Global Human Order he had
proposed that a special "peace dividend" established from savings made from cuts
in arms spending be used, as Roosevelt had done under his New Deal Administration, to
embark on a Works Programme for physical and social and cultural infrastructure in the
poorer countries.
In America he was to observe the prevalence of racial inequality, and had
experienced forms of racism himself. He also saw the great disparity in living standards
between whites and non-whites. While studying, because he had no support from anywhere, he
was forced to work in restaurants, as a tailor, salesman and elevator operator. It was
during these stints that he was to get a better understanding of America and aroused an
even deeper urge to understand the real world around him. He became interested in
politics, followed events during the war and studied social sciences and so in 1943 he
received a degree in dental surgery from North-western University and a BSc from the YMCA
college in Chicago.
Cheddi’s world view was emerging based on deep sympathies for the
working man and the desire to see them live a better life. In a letter he wrote in 1942 to
his good and constant friend Dr. Orrin Dummett, with whom he left Guyana to study abroad,
he remarked: ".. Now is the time for all suppressed and minority groups to demand not
only theoretical but also practical equality, so that the common foe will be resisted by
all on an equal footing….. History is in the making – whether anyone likes it or
not. There has been an awakening – the status quo that was, is gone. Yes, now is the
time for us to organise, to lobby, to make propaganda and demands - for now changes can be
most rapid and to our benefit."
Cheddi returned to Guyana in 1943 and I arrived in my new homeland a few
months later. His first task was to establish a practice in Georgetown, the Capital. He
always enjoyed a good dental practice as he was a first class dentist. His fees were low
as he did not want to exploit his patients but this led him into a public battle for a
principle he believed in. His low fees were not to the liking of the Dental Association,
which had prescribed for example a minimum fee for extractions, which was higher than what
he was charging. He maintained that the Association's function was to maintain standards
and not fee fixing. "I could not see," he said later, "why it was necessary
to earn in a few minutes what it took poor people half a day or a whole day to earn, when
they were fortunate enough to find employment."
Although he liked his profession, at the same time he longed to identify
himself with something more meaningful. In those days, there were no political parties.
The planter class dominated the Legislative Council and though some union leaders such as
Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, who formed the BGLU in 1922, spoke in the legislative Council
on behalf of workers, they had no mass political organisation. In existence then were the
League of Coloured People and the British Guiana East Indian Association. The LCP did not
interest him much since they opposed adult suffrage. The BGIEA supported constitutional
changes and universal adult suffrage but was unsympathetic to the plight of the working
man.
The dental surgery became a hive of activities and through it we made many
important contact, many patients being ordinary rural and urban workers. Cheddi’s
name began to spread in the sugar belt –coming from a sugar estate and as well a
doctor who listened to ordinary people. On many occasions he would be invited by workers
to speak and advise them on industrial matters in various parts of the sugar belt. Due to
his increased contacts with workers, he became involved in the two trade unions in the
sugar industry, one of them being the Man-Power Citizen’s Association.
In 1945 he became treasurer of that union, but was removed after a year
when he objected to the glaring reluctance of the union to defend the interests of the
sugar workers. It was, he discovered, a company union. Those were the days when many
things were happening. The Royal Commission on The West Indies headed by Lord Moyne had
published its report, which horrified many as it related in concrete terms the miserable
conditions of the workers and farmers. The war had created its own difficulties in Guyana
and the region. These difficulties had stirred widespread debate in which Cheddi and I
took an active part. We used to take part in discussions over a wide range of subjects at
the Carneige (now National) Library. An important event in that year was the convening in
Georgetown of West Indian Conference attended by such leaders as Grantley Adams, of
Barbados, Norman Manley and Richard Hart of Jamaica, Albert Gomes of Trinidad and H.N.
Critchlow of Guyana. The Labour Party had just won the elections in England and many were
openly talking of socialism. H.J.M Hubbard, an avowed Marxist was at the time the General
Secretary of the British Guiana Trades Union Council.
In 1946, four of us, Hubbard, Ashton Chase assistant secretary in the
British Guiana Labour Union, Cheddi and myself formed the Political Affairs Committee and
established a PAC Bulletin, of which I was the editor. The PAC was labour oriented. All
four of us were working in trade unions. I was at that time in the Clerical Workes Union,
now the Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Union. In the same year, the Women's
Political and Economic Organisation headed by myself, Winifred Gaskin and Frances Van
Stafford, was formed. Through these forums we put forward our ideas and started to
mobilise people. In 1947 the first elections since World War II were held. There were 14
elected seats to be contested. Apart from the middle class organisations, the LCP and the
BGEIA, a Labour Party was formed but this organisation was a group of individuals put
together quickly and without any mass base.
Cheddi and I ran as independent labour candidates - I contested in
Georgetown and Cheddi on the East Coast of Demerara. I lost to John Fernandes, a
businessman and catholic, who invoked the bogey of anti-communism, which was then becoming
a popular weapon of the plantocracy.
Cheddi fought against some well-established people such as Frank Jacobs, a
lawyer, and John D'Aguiar. The latter was clearly the most powerful as he had represented
the constituency for some time, was wealthy and had enormous influence. Cheddi had worked
among the sugar workers for some time and was assisted by Eusi Kwayana (Sidney King) and
Ram Karran who lived in the constituency. His patience and dedicated work among the
workers paid off. At the end of the count, Cheddi was declared the winner. Many in latter
years described this victory as a turning point for Cheddi, and in many ways, a
significant event in the history of Guyana. Cheddi himself reflected later that getting
into the legislature was an end of sorts but "only the beginning of the long and had
struggle ahead." Cheddi was elated. He was never to forget in his entire life that it
was the workers who elected him and elected him because of the promises he made to them
that he would take their cause to the legislature. He said as much in a post-ballot speech
when he declared "We the people have won. Now the struggle will begin."
Forty-five years later, at another historic occasion, his swearing in as the first freely
elected President of Guyana in 1992, he was to repeat those same words "...we the
people have won."
From then on the legislature became a battleground. Cheddi soon mastered
the art of debate in Parliament and prepared himself well before each sitting. He would
constantly expose the exploitative nature the colonial rulers and dominance of the Bookers
group - Guiana was then known as Bookers Guiana. He exposed the alarmingly poor conditions
of the people and the fact that the legislature was simply a tool of the planters. What
was also significant was that during this period, it became clear that he, unlike other
legislators who claimed to speak for the masses, was not for sale. His name as an honest
politician, a man of integrity grew from this time on.
A different kind of politics was taking shape. Cheddi would take the
interest of the ordinary man into the legislature and would later take to the street
corners to expose the rulers and their ploys to continue to exploit the people. In the
legislature, for a while, he teamed up with the labour Party which had won 6 of the
fourteen seats but soon broke ranks when he found they were not willing to speak out
against the planters and would not oppose the various manipulations used by the
colonialists to remove the wealth created by the people out of the country.
As conditions worsened in the colony, the industrial struggles began to
intensify. As part of our efforts to organise a mass-based national movement, we moved
even closer to the trade unions. Cheddi agitated among workers and became President of the
Sawmill workers Union. The colonial government became more oppressive and the need for a
national political organisation became more pressing. Matters came to a head when in 1948,
during a strike at Enmore estate, sugar workers were gunned down by the colonial police.
This tragedy sent shock waves throughout the colony. Cheddi described the incident thus:
"The Enmore tragedy affected me greatly. I was personally acquainted with all the
young men killed and injured. The funeral procession headed by my wife, other leaders and
myself to the city 16 miles away became a mass protest demonstration. At the graveside the
emotional outburst of the widows and relatives of the deceased had been intensely
distressing and I could hardly restrain my tears. There was to be no turning back. There
and then I took a silent pledge – I would dedicate my entire life to the cause of the
struggle of the Guyanese people against bondage and exploitation."
The stage was set to carry out the objective set by the PAC – the
formation of a political party. And so in 1950 was founded the People's Progressive Party
with Forbes Burnham as Chairman, Cheddi as Leader and myself as General Secretary.
From its inception, the colonialists attacked the Party but we maintained
a clear focus on the 1953 general elections. For the first time we saw people coming out
in numbers to demand a better deal and against the colonial masters in an organised way. A
development, which helped the situation, was the winning of the right to adult suffrage
and the removal of the property and education requirements for voting.
Practically, all the forces ganged up against the PPP. The anti-Communist
bogey became a main weapon against the Party. The church entered the fray mainly because
of our policy to bring education under government control. These attacks failed to have
much impact on our support and at the end of the polls, the PPP won 18 of the 24 seats.
It was a resounding victory. The PPP had succeeded in rallying all
sections of the population to stand up for a free Guiana. The new government was formed,
headed by Cheddi as Chief Minister. Real power, however, continued to reside in the hands
of the British. We were in office but not in power. In spite of constitutional
limitations, the government introduced progressive measures to ease the plight of the
working people. We implemented changes in the educational system, reform to local
government, giving more rights to farmers, increased rates for workers and improved
drainage and irrigation to boost agriculture. These changes seemed modest given the many
demands of the people but these drove fear in the British. Every move was deemed communist
by the British and local reaction. The planters were angered when we introduced the Labour
Relations Bill, fashioned after American and Canadian legislation, that provided a poll to
determine the union of the workers’ choice. Big business opposed the action since
they were favour of company unions, which betrayed the cause of labour. It became very
clear that the British were not prepared to allow us to govern. Thus, the British sent
troops into Guyana, suspended the constitution, dismissed the government and created a
nominated legislative council made up mainly of stooges who were rejected by the people at
the polls. Cheddi recorded this episode thus: "Our 133 days in office had
demonstrated our concept of democracy. Now the British and our opponents in Guiana
demonstrated theirs." Incidentally, the Americans gave their blessings to the British
gunboat action.
A wave of terror against the PPP, its leaders and the working people
ensued. Cheddi's movements were restricted. As part of the Party's civil disobedience
campaign he broke the restriction order by the colonialists, was arrested and sent to jail
for six months. But not before he had his say in the dock. "Today," he declared,
"Guyana is a vast prison. Whether I am outside or inside matters little. Prisons hold
no terror for me. I expect no justice from this or any other Court. Justice has been dead
since the British troops landed. I am hoping for the day when there will be greater
justice in Guiana."
At this juncture, Guyana experienced a bitter period in its history and
many of our current problems can find their roots in the sad days of British occupation.
The British used all its experience at subversion and division to maintain its rule. It
did everything possible to break the PPP and its mass support. And there were many willing
opportunists of the local brand ready to do their bidding. The most significant success of
the British was the split in the PPP in 1955. At a time when the people needed a united
national front against colonialism, it was the same time that Forbes Burnham and others
saw it fit to split the movement in pursuit of personal ambitions. It was clear that the
British engendered the spilt. When the British thought it had everything under control,
and had manipulated the constituency boundaries, it held general elections in 1957. The
results astonished them and proved to all who had the support of the people. The PPP won 9
of the fourteen seats, the PNC three. In fact the votes received by Cheddi were more than
the combined support of the 5 opposition seats.
The fight for Guyana’s independence remained the core objective of
the People’s Progressive Party. In its founding manifesto, the struggle for
independence from British rule was adumbrated as the objective of the party. It was the
first time that a political party in Guyana set itself such a goal. The PPP actively
promoted the cause and organised support inside and outside the country to achieve this
end. The British and local reaction rallied to stop the march for independence. The PNC
raised high the banner that under no circumstance were the British to consider
independence under Jagan. They concentrated their attacks on the PPP and its leading
members who were harassed, framed on trumped-up charges, jailed. They plotted and planned
and unearthed every conceivable trick to destabilise the country. The communist bogey was
always used as a pretext. But the PPP went on to win the successive elections.
However, the reactionaries succeeded in dividing the country along ethnic
lines and in the early sixties the country erupted in bitter racial conflicts. It was all
done in the name of freedom and liberty. In 1964, the British were finally able, with
clever constitutional manoeuvrings, changing the whole system of voting to PR, to remove
the PPP from office. While the PPP won 46 percent of the popular votes, the PNC and the
big business mouthpiece, the United Force, led by Peter D'Aguiar, formed a coalition.
Burnham al last had achieved his objectives. And so did the British and American
governments. Their involvement in fomenting racial strife in Guyana is well recorded and
more recently the Central Intelligence Agency's role in those murderous events was fully
exposed when official documents were released. But, contrary to their predictions, that
was not the end of Cheddi Jagan.
The Burnham-D'Aguiar coalition soon collapsed and Burnham took full
control. For the next twenty-eight years, a virtual dictatorship ruled Guyana, with
election after election being blatantly rigged. The British and Americans, and Caribbean
leaders turned a blind eye to the situation in Guyana.
The British granted independence to Guyana in 1966. It was a proud moment
for Cheddi and though he was now in the opposition he was considered as the father of the
independence struggles. He warned, however, that while we took pride in nationhood, the
road Burnham had taken, and the divisions in the society, would lead to further
impoverishment.
In 1980 Burnham changed the Independence constitution which gave him
supreme powers and he ruled with an iron fist. Political opponents were constantly being
harassed. At every turn they tried to silence the PPP, Cheddi and other leaders. There
were several political assassinations, the most dastardly being that of the brilliant
historian and politician, Dr. Walter Rodney. A massive exodus of our most skilled people
left Guyana to seek greener pastures in the Caribbean, North American and England. When
Burnham died in 1985, Desmond Hoyte assumed office and that same year, Guyana witnessed
the worst ever electoral rigging. When the PPP left office, Guyana was rated among the
Highly Developed Countries in the Caribbean with a growing economy, a highly educated
population and a high living standard. At the time of the 1992 general elections, Guyana
was rated among the Least Developed Countries in the Caribbean. In the hemisphere Guyana
was rated as the second poorest nation, just a little bit better than Haiti.
For twenty-eight years, Cheddi Jagan and the PPP were in the opposition.
He confronted the regime and campaigned at home and abroad for democracy, peace, progress
and harmony in Guyana. Due to his consistent efforts, a growing unity was developing in
the country for the restoration of democracy. The pressures at home and abroad intensified
and the PNC had to succumb and give in to electoral reforms. This process was helped by
the good work of former President Jimmy Carter. Many believed that the PPP was dead and
Jagan would never come back. But as he did in the past, he confounded his detractors, and
led the polls in 1992. After twenty eight years of dedicated work, Cheddi was declared
first freely elected President of Guyana.
Due to the astute statesmanship and leadership of Cheddi Jagan Guyana once
again became a proud nation in the Caribbean and until his death, presided over one of the
fastest growing economies in the Americas, averaging a GDP growth of almost 7 percent. In
a few years, the PPP brought hope to the people as step by step, the wreckage left by the
PNC was being rebuilt.
In his fifty years of struggles, Cheddi travelled and mingled with the
highest and the lowest - he dined with Kings and Presidents and also felt comfortable at
the table of the humblest worker. He was a man of the people. In Guyana he has earned for
himself the honour of being called the Father of the Nation.
Today as we celebrate his life and times, it is necessary for us to focus
on his main contributions to Guyana, those aspects of his legacy, which will live on and
inspire others to follow his footsteps. First he was a man committed to his country and
people. His goal in life was to bring freedom and equality and prosperity to the Guyanese
people. He was a political leader, teacher and organiser of the working classes. He
believed in national liberation, a staunch fighter in the fight against colonialism, and
an internationalist, joining the fight against injustice and poverty all over the world.
In his later years, especially as President of Guyana two crucial issues
were central to his work: the achievement of economic growth and human development and
national unity. In his analysis, this was the critical damage done to the country by the
colonialists and the PNC regime. During his four and a half years as Head of State Cheddi
had proposed a profound vision for Guyana and had outlined his basic world view in many of
his speeches and writings which have been published over the years, the latest being
"A New Global Human Order", released a few weeks ago.
In his latest epilogue to the West on Trial, completed in 1997, he
outlined a basic programme for the government within the context of people-centred
development. This agenda he described thus:
