Saving Democracy 2020

Apr 02, 2021 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

I salute those who helped saved democracy in Guyana 2020. They are worthy of national accolades.
Guyana experienced several revolutions after WWII – all connected to democratic governance. There was the Enmore Martyrs Revolution that would galvanise the working class to support the struggle for independence. Then there was the independence revolution led by Cheddi and Janet Jagan and others. This was followed by the Revolution for the Restoration of Democracy that included the Skeldon martyrs who were gunned down by soldiers in July 1973. And finally, there was the March 2020 to August 2 Revolution. The last revolution was fought mostly with technology on social media whereas the earlier ones were carried out with ground troops or foot soldiers.
I was not born as yet for the 1948 Enmore Revolution. I was too young to play a meaningful role in the Revolution for Independence that ushered in our freedom in May 1966. But I was there from the inception in 1966 opposing the ethnic dictatorship deeply immersed in the Revolutions for Restoration of Democracy (1992) and Prevention of a Return to Authoritarian Rule (2020). I played my role in Guyana till 1977 before migrating for university education and was in the forefront of the battle against the dictatorship while in the diaspora. And I was there for a short while in March 2020 combating the rigging before taking on a leading role from the diaspora to protect the ballots. Lives were lost in every revolution, including the youngster who was gunned down by police in March 2020, and I bow in tribute to those who gave their lives for the freedom and protection of democracy of the nation. Others are now the beneficiaries while those of us who fought in the revolution have been forgotten.
Not too many Guyanese have been around prior to 1992 to experience the ground revolution that led to democratic governance after 1992 and not many Guyanese have read about those earlier revolutions. The 2020 revolution is/was completely different from the preceding ones. The 2020 revolution was fought mostly with technology and public relations. It also involved significant lobbying in Guyana although there was more intense lobbying in the ABCE and Caricom countries and international organisations. In 2020, the foreign embassies supported the struggle for democracy whereas prior to 1992, foreign representatives were not very enthused about Guyana being a democracy; we got nil support till 1991. Those of us who partook in earlier revolutions knew what to do in 2020 to protect democracy although aside from myself, Baytoram Ramharack, Vishnu Bandhu, Ravi Dev, and Leslie Ramsammy, I can’t think of who else from the pre-1992 period (from the diaspora) are still very active and actually fought in 2020.
It takes quite an imagination to fathom the state of Guyana’s political situation or lack of democracy prior to 1992. The blood and sacrifices of those who partook in the revolt prior to 1992 set the stage to challenge the attempted fraud of 2020. Those of us who fought in that revolution remember the authoritarianism between 1966 and 1992 and don’t wish it on anyone; it was very brutal (near starvation and violence). And that is why I was deeply embedded, more than anyone I can think of in the diaspora, in that five months struggle to prevent its re-occurrence – writing and lobbying politicians and prominent international figures around the globe for their assistance to save our democracy.
Besides grass roots activism and lobbying, the 2020 revolution was powered by social media. Social media changed the concept of revolution, shaming and bringing down APNU+AFC as it sought to rig an election. Social media stands as the face of democracy in Guyana’s history books. APNU-AFC would not have given up power without the intervention of ABCE and Caricom countries powered by media activism. Between 1966 and 1992, there was hardly any free media; the dictatorship silenced the press with newsprint restrictions and libel suits. TV and radio was virtually unavailable. There were draconian measures to snip any content that was critical of the Burnham/Hoyte dictatorships. Many of us were brutalised for opposing the dictatorship. APNU+AFC could not tame the press between 2015 and 2020; digital news media exposed every shenanigan of the regime. And it, combined with the sanctions from Washington as well as other international pressure, fuelled the revolution that led to collapse of the regime on August 2, 2020. I bow in reverence to all those who played a role in restoring democracy in 1992 and in preventing a return to authoritarianism in 2020.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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