Had Rodney been alive today, his erstwhile ‘comrades’ would have persecuted him

Dear Editor,

June 13 marked the 37th anniversary of the death of one of our most distinguished sons, Walter Rodney.  He was assassinated by the PNC regime, as has been revealed by the recently held Commission of Inquiry — that is if any confirmation was needed as to who was responsible for his murder.

Rodney died almost as long as he lived, yet his name is still being called by many.  He is held in high esteem by ordinary people of our country and further afield. This is so because of how he lived his life and the contribution he made in the world for peace, freedom and justice, both nationally and internationally. He stood with working people.

He returned to Guyana in 1974, by which time he had gained renown regionally and internationally as a scholar and a revolutionary.  He is revered in Jamaica and held in high esteem in Africa, for his work in those parts of the world — not just his academic work, but his activism and his stance on the side of the working and oppressed peoples everywhere.

In 1974, when he came back to his homeland, it was a time when the PNC dictatorship was consolidating itself. It was also a period of growing resistance to the dictatorship.  This was seen in the massive way and the lengths that the PNC regime went to rig the elections the year before, in 1973.

Even before Rodney had arrived, a huge meeting protested the decision of the PNC regime, through its control of the University of Guyana Council, to refuse to offer this distinguished scholar a job in the History Department of the University. Actually, the UG Academic Board had given Rodney the job, but the PNC-dominated Council, which included Hamilton Green and Viola Burnham, reversed the decision.

That meeting was held at the corner of Middle and Cummings Streets.  It was supposed to be addressed by Cheddi Jagan and Eusi Kwayana, among others. It was brutally broken up, many persons were injured. The PNC regime was running scared when they saw unity being manifested.

Rodney came back and threw himself in the struggle. His views almost totally coincided with that of Cheddi Jagan and the PPP. However, he did not join the PPP. Some would ask why?

In my view, he felt that if he did,  the PNC would use race to brand him, the way they used it before  to attack the PPP, and the way it was used by APNU before the 2015 elections, and the way it is being used even now.

Being of African descent, the regime could not play the race card on him. By not joining the PPP, the PNC could not brand him a sell-out. And that exposed the African Guyanese masses to progressive political views, which the PNC had denied them because of its constant preaching of, and manipulation of, race. Rodney was taking away their racial trump card.

As I have pointed out before, Rodney was killed not only because of his views. Actually, most of what he advocated was also being advocated by the PPP. He was murdered because he was an African Guyanese advocating those views. In a way, therefore, his death can be described as a racial killing as well.

This anniversary of Rodney’s killing is taking place at a time when we see clear tendencies towards another PNC-style dictatorship.  The PNC dictatorship of 1968-92 crept up on us.

This new PNC led APNU regime is galloping in the same direction.

In the first place, the regime is dominated by former army officers. As everyone knows, an army is not a democratic institution. The training and orientation of the main personalities in the APNU regime is militaristic, and therefore not democratic. This is a military government in civilian garb.

One of the first actions was to close the Rodney Inquiry before it concluded all its work. It is still of great interest to know what President Granger knows about Rodney’s assassination.  After all, he was the number two man in the army at the time.  It is of similar interest to know what Minister Harmon knows about this political murder. He was the Deputy Head of the army’s intelligence when the assassination occurred.

This is probably why they shut it down as one of their first acts. This Government, with a panache for commissions of inquiry, did not want this one. Indeed, they dreaded it. This put a nail to their talks about transparency.

The head-long dash towards the old PNC order is seen in how the state institutions are being used to harass the political opposition today. The Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) and the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) are being used as instruments of oppression, discrimination, and to try to destroy the professional lives and livelihood of many Guyanese who are suspected of being supporters of the PPP/C. The witch-hunting is getting worse every day.

Racial and political discrimination have once more raised their ugly heads in our land. These, of course, are the outcomes of a policy wherein undemocratic methods are being used to govern. It is clear that witch-hunting and tactics to scare the population as a whole are being used. The evidence of their undermining of democracy is seen everywhere.

Just look at what is taking place in the regions. In Region Five, some of the most brazen administrative methods are being used to frustrate the democratically elected officials.

Parliament is also being reduced to a rubber stamp. One of the characteristics of a democratically functioning Parliament is that it becomes a forum for debate and discussion of all national and critical issues. These features are absent from this Parliament. The Speaker is worse than Sase Narine ever was under Burnham.

Rodney would have been fighting against these things had he been alive today.

What is very tragic in today’s situation is that many of the persons who stood with Rodney, running around shouting, “People’s power! No dictator!” are now killing his ideas and strangling the ideals he stood for.

Most of the leaders of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) are now supporting the new oppression that is being practised. They are openly facilitating the emergence of another PNC-style dictatorship.

If Rodney were arriving in Guyana now, it would most certainly be many whom he had thought were his comrades who would work to harass, witch-hunt and silence him.

The difference with Rodney and his erstwhile colleagues that survived him is that Rodney was able to cross the racial boundaries and advocate for a multi-ethnic democracy with equal opportunity for all at its foundation. He demonstrated strong opposition to any form of discrimination.

Those that survived him have shown their incapacity to cross the racial lines. Their own black nationalism has led them not only to support the party that is responsible for the murder of Walter Rodney, but to be active participants in the process of persecuting people just because of their race, and to secure for themselves the so-called ‘good life’.

Only David Hinds of them all has made some feeble protests. However, he is a bundle of contradictions. Whenever he criticises this regime, he always qualifies that criticism by explicitly stating that the PPP/C Administration was worse. He states this without providing a shred of evidence to support his position.

The main message he sends is that despite the hardship that people are facing, they must continue to support the regime. This is collaborating in the massive racial and political discrimination that is occurring every day in this country.

He, too, seems incapable of freeing his mind from the racial prison. His protests seem to be coming from a love for Rodney personally. However, on the whole, he continues to stand aside and let our country slide back into the darkest period of the 1970s and 80s. He has lost his objectivity.

Those who pay lip service to Walter Rodney should use this anniversary to re-examine themselves and get back in the struggle for a democratic and non-racial Guyana.

It would be good if they can do so, but I doubt it.

Donald Ramotar

Former President