American role in creating Oct 5, 1992

Oct 15, 2026 Letters

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Dear Editor,

This is in reference to several missives relating to Oct 5, 1992 (first democratic elections in independent Guyana (May 26, 1966). Clement Rohee said Jagan was the central figure relating to Oct 5, 1992. He is right that Jagan was deeply involved in the local and international struggle for the restoration of democratic governance and free and fair elections. But he neglected to state that it was because of Jagan that Guyana descended into a dictatorship, an almost totalitarian state. If Jagan had not introduced and championed communism in British Guiana, Guyana would not have become a dictatorship. There would not have been the rise of Burnhamism. It was the trend and mood in colonies globally to speak a left-wing nationalist language. And those who did so, paid a price (removed from office or assassinated). African leaders in the Caribbean colonies moderated their ideology and avoided linkage with socialism and the USSR and were allowed to take their colonies to independence. Jagan refused to tow the American line or delink from communism and paid the price.

Unless one studies US foreign policy, as Mervin grasps, and early PPP leaders and Freddie Kissoon don’t, one would not understand Washington’s policy towards Guyana and the region. The US, the most powerful nation, would never allow communism (socialism in its various forms), in the west, certainly not in its backyard in British Guiana or independent Guyana. So many socialist governments were toppled from 1954 thru 2026 (Maduro being the latest). Jagan (and PPP figures) did not understand this American mission, and he naively introduced and promoted socialism in Br. Guiana when he returned from his studies in USA in 1943. Communism led to his downfall and the suffering of his naïve supporters. Jagan spoke a language that was inimical to the interests of America. President Eisenhower was concerned about the rise of Jagan, and he discussed the threat of communism posed by Jagan and the PPP with Prime Minister Churchill. The PPP government was removed from office by Churchill in 1953. Foreign forces created a division in the PPP that would split into two factions – one led by Jagan and the other by Burnham in 1954. When elections were held in 1957, Jagan won. Burnham renamed his faction on October 5, 1957 as PNC. The rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1959 created additional concerns for Washington especially that Castro professed communism which was embraced by Jagan. A socialist fraternity developed between Castro and Jagan reorienting towards the Soviet bloc, raising worries in Washington and London. Eisenhower and again raised the issue of communist Jagan as Premier of Guyana with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and sought a delay of independence.

Jagan won re-election in 1961. His open praise for Marxist-Leninist doctrines and his warm stance toward the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro’s Cuba alarmed officials in Washington. President Kennedy hosted him at the White House, and he tried to convince the President that he was a Fabian socialist. American policymakers don’t distinguish between different brand of socialism. Jagan refused to tone down his communist rhetoric or distance himself from socialist regimes, convincing Kennedy and key advisers — including CIA Director Allen Dulles — that Jagan was an ideological hardliner who posed an unacceptable threat to American interests.

Anyone who understands US foreign policy would know that Washington has been governed by a singular, rigid objective: preventing another “second Cuba”. In British Guiana (now Guyana), this preoccupation led Washington directly into a web of covert intervention, political manipulation, and a long-standing tolerance for electoral fraud. Jagan’s government was destabilized (1962-64) and eventually engineered out of office by the US and UK and replaced by Burnham. Washington and London described Burnham as opportunistic but viewed him as a lesser threat to the West than Jagan. They closed their eyes to rigging, rise of the dictatorship and human rights abuses.

Jagan’s ideological convictions alienated American policymakers, ultimately paving the way for nearly three decades of totalitarian rule under Burnham. A handful of us went to countless fundraisers and events of members of Congress entreating them to take actions on Guyana on rights violations. Lobbying efforts of Congress (Thomas Downey, Robert Mrazek, Raymond McGrath, Joseph Addabbo, Patrick Moynihan, Al D’Amato, among others) and Presidents Carter and Reagan by a handful of us in USA were rebuffed. After the formation of GOPIO in August 1989, at which Jagan was a special guest, the executives repeatedly appealed to Members of Congress and President Bush on our behalf for free and fair elections in Guyana; GOPIO also allowed us to engage Members of Congress (Solarz, Greene, etc.) and the Bush Administration at its many programs to make the case for Guyana. There were pushbacks to our lobbying efforts and pleas as Members of Congress and the Bush Administration made clear they were not favourable to the idea of replacing a corrupt administration aligned with Washington’s objectives with an avowed communist; Bush had served as Director of CIA and was familiar with Jagan. We persisted with our lobbying efforts with the assistance of GOPIO, hosting fundraisers for Members of Congress (Addabbo, Solarz, among others and joining their election campaigns) hoping to convince them to pressure Hoyte on human rights violations and pursuing political reforms. A change in Washington’s attitude towards Guyana came about after the collapse of communism and the friendship and trust that developed between Gorbachev and Bush. An agreement was reached between Washington and Moscow that America would help secure free and fair elections in Guyana and Russia would help to facilitate FFE in Nicaragua. Hoyte lost to Jagan in Guyana and the Sandinistas lost to Chamorro in Nicaragua. Initially, pressured by Hammie Greene, Corbin and other strongmen in the PNC, Hoyte refused to concede defeat. A stern phone call from Washington changed his mind not dissimilar to the stern phone call that came in 2020 to the PNC to accept the outcome of the peoples’ verdict.

If communism was not a defining aspect of Jagan’s politics, dictatorial rule would not have emerged and there would not have been the need for all the struggles that led to October 5, 1992. And several notable figures in Guyana and diaspora played a meaningful role in the restore of FFF in Guyana. The legacy of totalitarian rule in Guyana remains a striking case study of Cold War foreign policy, how two superpowers competed for influence in the third world, illustrating how ideological rigidity led the US to compromise democratic principles, destabilize foreign nations, and sustain dictatorship regimes in the name of strategic containment. When communism was no longer a threat to American interests, democracy was restored.

Yours sincerely,

Vishnu Bisram

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• Freddie Kissoon, Jagan, Letters, PPP leaders, Vishnu Bisram

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