Émigrés, Immigrants and Guyanese Politics

Oct 12, 2008 Features / Columnists, Ravi Dev

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The storm in a teacup over the existence of Errol Arthur, which segued into the reflections on the anniversary of the return of free and fair elections to Guyana on October 5th 1992, cast my mind back to the contributions of the emigrant Guyanese community towards the latter blessed event.

The distinction, going back to the French Revolution, is made between “immigrants” and “émigrés” – with the former leaving their native country for political reasons and working to change the system in their “home country” from abroad.

Arriving in the US in 1972, to attend university, I found neither a Guyanese immigrant, nor émigré community.

Even though I attended Brooklyn College, and most Guyanese immigrants up to then lived in Brooklyn, they were dispersed within the wider Caribbean and African American enclaves. The PNC had a support group that generally hosted visiting governmental dignitaries.

There were, however, individuals who kept the political flag for the restoration of democracy in Guyana flying in the seventies –especially from within the student population. Dr Rodney himself spoke at Brooklyn College but unfortunately, I missed him.

Errol Arthur had attended Howard University and became involved with the WPA support group that sprung up in the Washington area. There were also supporters in the New York tri-state region.

My own involvement was triggered by my return on a visit to Guyana after a seven-year hiatus in 1979. I was struck by the immense rise in political consciousness wrought by the activism of the WPA in the midst of the destruction of the economy and atomization of the society by the increasingly dictatorial entrenchment of the PNC regime. I was to return the following year after the assassination of Walter Rodney and every year afterwards.

More than any other single event, Rodney’s assassination brought home to many expatriates the extent of the political degeneration in Guyana.

At the same time, a group from Canada, dubbed the Conservative Party of Guyana (CPG), responded to the widespread sentiment of the time that only an armed insurrection could change the situation and sought to purchase arms in the US. They were caught in a sting operation and several of the members were incarcerated for years.

The concatenation of the two events precipitated the beginning of a wider Guyanese émigré politics in the US, where the immigrant numbers had swollen.

The PPP’s support group led by the indefatigable Karshan kept up their activities in the face of intense factionalism and infighting precipitated by their party’s lack of a clear strategy for dealing with the PNC regime in the early and mid-eighties.

By this time the Indo-Guyanese population had begun to have a significant presence in the Richmond Hill and to a lesser extent, the Jamaica areas.

This critical mass catalyzed and facilitated political (and social) activism and numerous political groups sprung up in New York.

Ramharack, Ramracha and Bisram were part of a CPG support group; Joe Ragnauth had a DLM group and Roop Persaud, Randy Depoo, myself and a host of others started up an independent group.

There was also the precursor of the United Republican Party spearheaded by Vishnu Bandhu. Word of mouth soon made us aware of groups in Miami, Chicago, Toronto and elsewhere.

I got to know and respect Errol Arthur at this time. He knew Randy Depoo and would drive up from Washington to New York with astounding commitment to attend group meetings.

Most of us were “concerned” Guyanese drawn especially from the corporate world and our grasp of politics was tenuous at best. Errol displayed great patience in steering us through the nuances of politics in general and Guyanese politics in particular.

While some may scoff at the “luxurious” lifestyle of expatriate Guyanese who comment on Guyanese politics, I can attest that for those who were active “émigrés” in the eighties, it demanded a great deal of sacrifice.

Without any centralized coordination, most of the émigré groups focused on lobbying various institutions within the US and Canada that could possibly influence the PNC regime to hold free and fair elections. Some groups adopted a conservative posture and lobbied the Reagan administration directly.

Others, such as the one I was part of, sought out individual lawmakers such as Senator Kennedy or organizations such as the Council for Hemispheric Affairs, National Democratic Institute and later the Carter Institute.

Much of the lobbying, in addition to the periodic demonstrations, demanded trips to Washington, and this is where individuals such as Errol Arthur stepped up to bat.

I remember Randy Depoo and myself packing our families into our cars (they buttressed the numbers bearing placards) and arriving at Errol’s door unannounced to spend the night.

Another popular feature was to prepare postcards addressed to the US officials and wait, stamps in hand, on Guyanese at popular subways stops such as 14th St. (in the early days) or near mailboxes on the streets, to sign and post. In winter this was a trial. Groups also raised funds for political parties in Guyana or hosted them.

I remember Errol coordinating (with Lincoln Van Sertima, I believe) a talk by Elder Eusi Kwayana to our group. It was customary for all other groups to be invited to hear directly from those in the trenches “back home”.

At the beginning of the ‘90s, Dr Fenton Ramsahoye played an invaluable role in bringing together most of the émigré groups in the US, Canada and England in the initiative called World Union of Guyanese.

Even those groups that did not become members, such as the PPP-aligned Association of Concerned Guyanese, began to coordinate their efforts with others in the final push for free and fair elections.

Today, with the return of free and fair elections to their homeland, most Guyanese emigrants are focusing on integrating themselves into their host societies. This is how it has been with all other groups before them.

But we should not belittle or forget the role they played and would be willing to play again, if necessary, to assist their native land. They are a Guyanese asset.

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