Guyana Must Defend Its Independence in a Changing World

Dear Editor,

Guyanese everywhere and of every age must recognise that the end of the major European civil war, which the media baptised as World War 2, brought new circumstances, and interesting dynamics to the world in which we live. When the great British Statesman, crowned the “British Bull-dog”, Sir Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech at Fulton Missouri, on March 5, 1946, where he adverted to the term “iron curtain”, this in a sense created conditions for what is regarded as the destructive, all-consuming Cold War.

Of interest, Churchill was introduced by no less a person than US President Harry S. Truman. This Cold War which technically ended in the dawn of the 1990s, was extremely destructive, the Vietnam war and Korean war are the best-known consequences of this Cold war. In all this, small countries in Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean needed to walk a fine line to gain their Independence from their respective imperial powers, and the greatest struggle was to secure benefits from their natural resources beyond the exploitation and dehumanisation of slavery.

And most of all to persuade their citizens that political independence was more than an anthem and a seat at the United Nations. The much loftier goal was to be pawns of neither East nor West. This led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement, officially founded this very month in1961.

Forbes Burnham was a solid supporter and advocate of the concept of non-alignment, when he got the opportunity in office, he had erected a monument, at Company Path between St George’s Cathedral and Bank of Guyana, to honour the four founders of the non-aligned movement, President Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Prime Minister Nehru of India, President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and President Gamal Nasser of Egypt.

Out of all this, there existed a tug-of-war between the two goliaths. But thanks to hard work, industry and visionary leadership the People’s Republic of China (PRC) emerged as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage. The PRC grew and developed at an exceedingly fast rate, lead by its Communist Party, challenging the might of the mighty in the field of commence, technology, and industry.

In the Caribbean, including the English-speaking former colonies, their new leaders were reluctant, some would say afraid, to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China, Guyana was no different. I recall when this matter was discussed, senior officials, cabinet members, and the PPP expressed the view that there was no good reason for the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to be the first in the region to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.

However, five persons led the charge to have diplomatic relations with China, these persons were Forbes Burnham, Hamilton Green, Ptolemy Reid, Shirley Field-Ridley, and Hubert Jack. And so it was that we established formal diplomatic relations with China, on June 27, 1972. A busy time for Guyana, as we hosted the first ever CARIFESTA, the brain-child of Burnham, in August – September 1972.

Today, human instinct of rivalry, jealousy and the urge to dominate continues unabated. These characteristics are evident in Guyana. What mattered then and matters today is the wisdom, inner strength, courage and genuine commitment of our leaders to the welfare of our nation state and all of the people.

As we look at the situation in Guyana where some folks are concerned about our relations with China, the people, all the people, should say to our leaders be brave, and make it clear that no external force should dictate to us who we should be friendly with. If we allow this or even the perception of such an attitude, it will be a betrayal of the Golden Arrowhead and the sanctity of our soul. We all love our big brother, but we are all now grown up.

Unfortunately, over the last century we have seen steps by leaders, of sheer stupidity. Why did Adolf Hitler attack Stalingrad in July 1942, exhausting his military, leading to his downfall? Why did the Trojans not perceive a Greek trick when they hauled that suspicious looking horse within there city fortress? Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour in December 1941, drawing the Americans into the war and leading to their defeat?

In Guyana today we must be bold, be wise, and reject every effort at subtle recolonisation. On a personal level, I thank God for my mother who weaned me on the mantra, that I should be fearless and that big bad bullies can be beaten.

Yours truly,
Elder Hamilton Green