PNC was rebuilt with a little help from imperialists

Oct 29, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – Supporters of Forbes Burnham believed in him. They saw him as a political saviour.
Most believed his every word and would follow him to the ends of the world. Even when he decried imperialism and condemned capitalism, his supporters believed in him.
Little did they know that behind their backs Burnham was in bed with the imperialists. In fact, it was CIA funds that helped to rebuild the People’s National Congress after the 1968 elections.
Burnham’s fingers were also extremely sticky. The Americans asked him to stop siphoning off monies from the sale of flour. In return for a monthly subsidy from the CIA, he promised then he would stop tapping off the funds from the flour sales, but the Americans knew that there was no assurance that he would.
These are just some of the revelations that have emerged from declassified documents on US Foreign Policy covering the period 1969 to 1974, released by the Office of the Historian, Department of State of the United States of America.
These documents have also confirmed that the CIA again financed operations leading up to the 1968 elections so as to keep Cheddi Jagan out of power.
This support was significant since, according to the documents, the funds were exhausted. Given that adequate funds were normally set aside to finance covert operations, the fact that these funds were exhausted, testifies to the large sums that must have been received by the anti- PPP forces in the run-up to the 1968 elections which were rigged to keep Burnham in power.
The declassified documents revealed that in 1969, Burnham approached the Americans and requested a monthly subsidy of US$10,000 for two years to help fund his party, the People’s National Congress.
The US agreed that it was necessary to finance Burnham so as to build effective party machinery, and they provided this socialist with some US$5,000 per month, first for one year, and then renewed it for another year.
In all, Burnham received two years of financing from the CIA for the PNC. The money was to be used to fund a small group of paid PNC organisers; be used for essential sections of the PNC’s central office and for the dissemination of party information.
The assistance began in July 1969 and was extended in June 1970 for one year. It was concluded in 1971 after which it was determined that no further assistance would be offered.
The declassified documents also indicated that the Americans asked Burnham to stop siphoning off funds from the sale of flour. It was estimated that through this arrangement Burnham was raking in more than US$28,000 per year. The means by which he did this, and the concessions that he gave to facilitate this skullduggery, are also revealed in the latest declassified reports from the Office of the Historian.
Yet, this was the same Burnham who, while in bed with the CIA, was laying the foundation for the creation of a socialist society which involved the nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy.
Other declassified documents revealed what a weakling he was in giving in to US pressures after he had so boldly announced that he was nationalising the bauxite industries.
The US company, Reynolds, got what it wanted. The industries were nationalised, but Reynolds was paid handsomely. The agreement is now available for the public to read. And there is no fine print.
Tens of thousands of Guyanese cheered Burnham when he condemned imperialism. Yet, all along, he was on the CIA payroll. He was bankrolled into power by the CIA; he was supported again by the CIA in retaining power through rigging in 1968, and he rebuilt the PNC with funds from the CIA.
But key questions remain unanswered. Was the CIA involved in Jonestown and did Burnham facilitate this involvement? And was the bomb which killed Walter Rodney supplied by the CIA as was once speculated by a member of Rodney’s party?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not this newspaper.)

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