History has a way of repeating itself. The players may be different but the outcome is always the same. Yesterday, Tuesday, marked the 47th anniversary of the Jonestown murders. Forty-seven years ago, the Rev. Jim Jones, caused some 918 people to be killed with cyanide-laced Kool Aid, injections and gunshots.
Jones had come to Guyana from the United States with a group of people to set up an agricultural commune. Prime Minister Forbes Burnham approved the presence of the Americans who had come from California.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Ptolemy Reid was responsible for Guyana’s agricultural programme. He was the man behind the drive for Guyana to be self-sufficient in food. He coined the phrase, Feed, House and Clothe yourselves.
He influenced Burnham to allow the Americans to come to Guyana. He approved the agreement to have land in the North West at Port Kaituma provided to the immigrants. The area became known as Jonestown. The group was known as the People’s Temple.
That community became self-sufficient in agricultural produce. As far as the country was concerned these people were what they said they were. What was not known was that the Burnham government closely monitored the People’s Temple.
The people who monitored the commune began to report disaffection among some of the residents. Burnham even contemplated visiting the commune for a meeting with Jim Jones. In fact, he had already made the decision to visit Jonestown.
The Special Branch headed by James Mentore emphatically forbade Burnham from visiting Jonestown. This was no more than two weeks before Jones put Guyana on the map with the largest cult murders in recent history, perhaps in all history.
A United States Congressman, Leo Ryan, walked into history. He became the first Congressman to be killed outside the United States. He responded to appeals from the relatives of the people at Jonestown and visited the commune. He never returned to the United States. He was shot and killed at the Port Kaituma airstrip.
He had actually got Jones to allow those who wanted to leave to do so. The shooting began at the airstrip just as the people who wanted to leave were preparing to board the Twin Otter piloted by Captain Astil Paul.
A reporter now departed, Neville Annibourne, was there. He reported on what happened at the airstrip. His account was frightening. He lived to tell the tale as did Astil Paul. And Burnham lived because the heeded the advice of the Special Branch.
Today, there is another influx of foreigners, this time from Venezuela. The government has failed to monitor these people. It has even failed to operate the parliamentary foreign affairs subcommittee because it doesn’t want to heed any advice that might be forthcoming.
There were nearly a thousand Americans who descended on Guyana. They were monitored. The Venezuelans have come unregulated. They have been allowed to settle wherever the pleased. Guyana does not even know how many of them are here and where they are.
There have been complaints from some members of the Venezuelan community but the government appears to be ignoring these complaints. There have been murders. In fact, some Guyanese have been caught up in the Venezuelan attacks.
One Parika man pretended to be dead when a Venezuelan cut his throat. The country has heard nothing more about the assailant or the victim. In fact, had it not been for social media this incident might never have come to light.
The situation has got worse. There have been bombings of installations, one of them a police station. Another has been a Guyana Power and Light substation.
The largest of these explosions was at a Mobil service station that claimed the life of a child. Not much is being heard of the matter. Instead the focus is on Azruddin Mohamed who is fighting extradition.
History is repeating itself. Guyana provided sanctuary for people seeking a better life but it is facing the backlash of those bent on controlling the narrative in the immigrant community.
Back in 1978 the Guyana Government knew where the Americans were. The present government cannot say where the Venezuelans are. This past week there were reports of the government trying to monitor the influx of Venezuelans in the wake of a threatened United States invasion or at least a missile attack.
This exercise is failing because the Guyana Police Force is limited in manpower and ability. They are further hampered by the inability to act professionally.
The Venezuelans are not the only migrants here. Just this week there was a cutlass wielding Brazilian pastor protesting the ability of a Guyanese to park on a public sidewalk outside his church.
The lessons of 1978 are being ignored. Of interest is the fact that the government is concentrating on issues other than the impact of the migrants.
