When it comes to ‘interference’ the PPP are the Task Masters

Jul 10, 2014 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
After reading Peeping Tom’s article in the Kaieteur News earlier, which as we have noted before, seems to be a Freedom House PPP position – he concludes that the US envoy and for that matter the American Administration crossed the Red Line in the US Ambassador’s Independence address last week Wednesday.
The bad word is ‘interference’ – This of course is a horrible thing, but Guyana a small country with a dwindling population, compliments of this government, has always been part of a global international culture of ‘interference’. On a lighter side I suppose our parents produced us thanks, to some form of interference.
Let’s get serious – so when it is convenient the PPP can (double) cross the red line.
Peeping Tom can remove his blinkers and take a journey with the PPP decade by decade, and he will find out that when it comes to interference the PPP are the Task Masters.
To be brief let us take the examples of each decade – 1950s when our constitution was suspended, the PPP sought the interference of India, the independent African country Ghana, Yugoslavia and the British Labour Party led by a former Prime Minister Clement Atlee, and there is an interesting piece on that: “Efforts by PPP leaders, Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham, to travel to London to protest the British action were deliberately thwarted; airlines refused to sell them tickets, and some Caribbean countries refused to admit them at their airports to make connecting flights. Eventually, they managed to privately charter a plane to Suriname where they obtained seats on a Dutch airliner to Amsterdam. From there they travelled to London where, unfortunately, they were unable to make any headway with the Conservative-led Government, and even with the leadership of the opposition Labour Party. It was obvious that in those Cold War days, the “communist” label was stuck on them and the conservative-minded political leaders just showed no interest in denouncing the trampling of democracy by the colonial power. Nevertheless, both Burnham and Jagan addressed public meetings and trade union groups and won great sympathy for the cause of the Guyanese people.
From London, they travelled to the Indian sub-continent where they explained their case to political leaders and addressed large sympathetic crowds in major Indian and Pakistani cities”.
– 1960s the PPP sought and in some instances secured the interference of Cuba and the USSR – Training of PPP youths, supply of arms and certain equipment, and the famous ‘rocking chair’ meeting between Jagan and Kennedy.
– 1970s Jagan and the PPP both secretly at an international forum sought the interference of the Eastern Block.
– 1980s PPP turned to Caricom to interfere, and cross the red line, and even accused Caricom leaders of being soft on Burnham.
– 1990s the PPP with Desmond Hoyte’s naïveté, secured the interference of US President Jimmy Carter who even persuaded Desmond Hoyte to violate our Constitution by denying Guyanese overseas the opportunity to vote in the National Elections. (See Ralph Ramkarran’s article on this question).
Peeping Tom, please peep some more, there is so much more I can tell you about crossing the line. In fact the Ambassador broke no rule, violated no protocol, he simply did what we all should, that is, move in line when the light turns to Green. He must be congratulated for expressing the views that every patriot should express.
Hamilton Green, J.P
Mayor

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