Dear Editor
Those of us who took part in the struggle for independence, particularly of after WW2, must feel pain that the work and sacrifice of the slave revolutionaries, the Enmore martyrs, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham are being mutilated by forms of mental re-enslavement, with ominous spectacle neo-colonialism.
As a background to my further comments, I suggest as necessary reading, the wisdom contained in, former president Donald Ramotar’s letter published in the independent media on Wednesday October 28, 2026 titled “Sovereignty Matters” and “Sovereignty was behind Lula’s win”.
For our young people who may be influenced by sections of the western controlled media, which is questioning Lula da Silva unprecedented sprint, after the first run-off, to victory, the erudite column, written by Dr Mark Kirton, titled, “Lula and his historic victory in the Brazilian presidential elections” is instructive and useful. Brazil offers us a grand opportunity to look at events and shifts in the wider region- the Caribbean, Latin America, South, Central and North America.
As I read their comments, I could not help feeling some sense of pain and anguish at how far Guyana and some of our Caricom leaders have drifted away from the ideals of the founders of Caricom. Tearfully, I recall the bravery and sense of nationalism of the three ‘Bs’ Errol Barrow, Vere Baird, and Forbes Burnham when they met at Dickenson Bay Antigua in 1965, to set the foundation for a resilient regional body, later known as CARICOM.
This week at the United Nations, Guyana, that has received such great help from Cuba over many years, had neither the decency, nor courage to vote for the resolution to end the economic embargo against Cuba. But took the coward’s way out and abstained. What our leaders must appreciate is that there is no need to support everything that Big brother does or says.
We must be able to say to Big brother, we love you very much, we respect you, and we value your friendship, but by the same token we must be able, on certain issues, to politely and respectfully disagree. This must not be seen as being neither pusillanimous nor a betrayal of a valued friendship. In fact, true friendship should allow us, to gracefully disagree.
Editor and citizens, human history has shown a tendency for big brother to rely primarily on the use and threat of might. Recall the “Great White fleet” of 1907, the brainchild of President Theordore Rooseveldt, sixteen battleships all painted gleaning white, and support vessels with 14,000 crew, that sailed across six continents, visiting twenty ports including Trinidad. This display of maritime power added to US supremacy on land and air.
Of interest, in the Caribbean, the question of our future constitutional status was hotly debated. There is the book titled “Confederation of the British West Indies Versus Annexation to the United States of America: A Political Discourse on the West Indies”, published in 1912, written by Louis S. Meikle a Jamaican living in New York, that pointed to the economic benefits that could accrue if we were part of the United States of America. It also drew attention to the drawbacks of being another state of the USA. He warned that US influence would mean that the extension of American Jim Crow norms – including racial segregation, disenfranchisement, and lynching – into the Caribbean society.
A hundred years on, conditions are not as stark and dark as they were. However, on both sides of the Atlantic, in spite of progress made, there still exist lingering beliefs and attitudes which constitute a burden on the shoulders of this generation, a burden not easily recognised, and this, as we look at the recent voting pattern at the UN, is our challenge.
People in Guyana and elsewhere must go beyond political party lines, and press their leaders to see the bigger picture unfolding in our world, which is a culture of ‘might being right’. A fall back to ancient times where Plato’s Republic (book one) argues that “justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger”. That will make us barbarians and not a civilised people. A first step is to speak up, and protest peacefully. The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, reminds us that “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”
Yours truly,
Elder Hamilton Green
