In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the PPP, I write about a little known event that formed part of the circumstances that shaped Guyana’s entry into the democratic fold of nations.
Elections were due in Guyana in 1990. As the year opened the PPP leadership continued to search for ways to pressure the government to enact reforms to ensure free and fair elections. The PPP understood that the prospects were dim. Upon assumption of office in 1985, albeit after the worst rigged elections in Guyana’s history, President Hoyte reversed Burnham’s political and economic policies which endeared him to the West and to some in the local business community. Foreign investment flowed into Guyana which recorded significant economic growth. These circumstances did not deter the PPP which had been confronting rigged elections since 1968. One element in that confrontation has always been the utilization of propitious external circumstances to influence the outcome of the internal confrontation.
At the beginning of 1990, with the ascension of Mikhail Gorbachev to the presidency of the USSR, the Cold War was coming to an end. The Sandinistas of Nicaragua had been pressured by the US to hold free and fair elections and on 25 February, 1990, the Sandinistas lost the elections. The USSR was an ally of the Sandinistas but collaborated with the US in ensuring that the elections were free and fair. The Sandinistas accepted their defeat and left office. In discussing strategy in early 1990, the PPP, like everyone else, recognizing that the Cold War was the core problem in Guyana, saw in the Sandinista experience an opening to exploit.
By this time President George H.W. Bush had sent to President Hoyte a Republic Day message in which he told President Hoyte that he was looking forward to free and fair elections later that year. It was not known at that time whether the US intended merely to tap President Hoyte on the wrist, having regard to the decades of support for the PNC by the US and President Hoyte’s pro-Western policies. In these circumstances the PPP leadership decided that Dr. Jagan should prepare a draft letter to President Gorbachev which was approved and sent on 14 April, 1990. The objective of the letter was to persuade President Gorbachev to pressure President Bush to apply the Sandinista policies in Guyana, even if the US’s client would lose the elections. There was no reply to the letter and it is not known if President Gorbachev acted on it. However, thereafter, financial institutions which had been dealing with Guyana and in which the US had influence, all began to require electoral reforms before proceeding to consider loans. The US Congress became accessible to Guyanese seeking to lobby for free and fair elections. And the Carter Center agreed to monitor the elections which is unlikely to have occurred without the imprimatur of the US Government.
Setting the stage in the letter, Dr. Jagan said: “At this critical juncture in our country’s and Party’s history, I wish to solicit your support towards a political solution in Guyana. I make this request knowing that improved USSR/USA relations has led not only to an improvement in the international climate but also to resolution of regional conflicts and problems.” Dr. Jagan explained that the PPP had been a victim of the Cold War and was kept from office through force, fear and fraud facilitated by Cold War tensions and the attitude of US ruling circles to the PPP. He noted, however, that “several factors have recently led to what appears to be a change in the attitude of US ruling circles.” Among those which he enumerated were: winding down of the Cold War; the worldwide democratization process; Guyana being a liability with an unstable political environment; to allay US fears, the PPP’s proposals to appoint a multi-party, multi-racial, multi-class, multi-ideology government; charges of Western double-standards by calls for free and fair elections worldwide, while ignoring Guyana.
Dr. Jagan noted that in his Republic Day message to President Hoyte, President Bush had expressed the hope that “your national elections which will be held with the next year will reflect the democratic values shared by both our peoples.” President Hoyte’s response and a subsequent meeting between the PPP and President Hoyte “left the distinct impression that the Government does not intend to permit free and fair elections due at the end of this year.”
In these circumstances Dr. Jagan appealed to President Gorbachev in the following terms, while referring to the example of Nicaragua: “In view of the fact of the new relations developing between the USSR/USA have already shown positive effects in bringing about a democratic and peaceful solution to political problems, we would appreciate your efforts in this context for a political solution in Guyana. In this regard, the Guyana Government should be persuaded to follow the example of Nicaragua” and invite foreign observers to the elections, including the Carter Center.
This episode was not publicized at the time or at any time thereafter. The PPP clearly saw that while it was mobilizing public pressure in the West would be productive, only quiet diplomatic pressure from the East would be effective.