Dear Editor,
I shall attempt to give a quick comparison between the two Presidents, Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan. It has already been established that Cheddi Jagan, in his quest to build a strong and progressive nation, was first vilified by none other than his own compatriot Burnham, later imprisoned by the Colonial Sovereigns of the day. It was a very deceitful plan by Burnham who knew fully well where the sentiments of the world powers of the day were. For the British, they never wanted a communist dictatorship state here in Guyana, and the Americans, the same policy.
Burnham played that opportunistic “Nice Boy” trick very well, I am talking about the erudite orator guy from Lincoln’s Inn played up to the World Powers of the day in earnest. In that ambience of biasness there was not a ghost of a chance for Cheddi, he was relegated to a place where he could never be a leader of this nation ever.
But was Cheddi the dictator communist Burnham and his international allies made him out to be? Was Cheddi a racist? Well, the answer is he was none of the above, an in-depth analysis of the man and his policies would reveal. Dr Jagan for his own part was a nationalist who wanted his people to prosper and be independent. This could only be achieved by carving out a developmental plan separate and distinct from the template left us by the imperialists. It also meant that he had to turn to the Communist Block of Countries such as Cuba and The Soviet Union for advice.
Cheddi did make headway with his policies amidst the debilitating odds against him, vivid evidence of this was seen in the massive influx of other Caribbean Nationals into Guyana. This South American country was the place to come to for a better life. During the late 50s and early 60s Guyana, as it were, became overrun by Islanders seeking their fortune here. This was all due to Cheddi’s robust developmental plan.
Ironically, when Burnham came into power there was a reverse in fortunes, as Islanders as well as Guyanese alike were flushed out of Guyana. We ran away under disgraceful circumstances such as lack of jobs with which to feed one’s family as well as a scarcity of basic food items. Guyana at this stage was ranked below Haiti.
We are not going down that road again, which means we are dissociating ourselves from Burnham and the remnants of his party. Their influence was a blueprint for underdevelopment, as that racist state capitalism of Burnham ran riot. That type of backwardness is now done away with in the modern dispensation of things. One Guyana is the watchword!
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
