VENEZUELA’S BREATHTAKING AUDACITY

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 13th June 2015, 7:00 pm

Venezuela’s proclamation of its “Atlantic Coast” on May 27, which includes all of Guyana’s maritime space, having already maintained since 1962 its fictional claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s land territory, is breathtaking in its audacity. Venezuela’s claim violates the Geneva Agreement and international law and threatens the peace, security and stability of the Region. Oblivious to this fact, the heirs to Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s late, transformative leader, have damaged the credibility of his legacy. They are attempting to take by force, and at Guyana’s expense, the Atlantic outlet they have always craved and with it Guyana’s newly discovered petroleum resources.

It was Chavez who in 2004 in Guyana declared that the border controversy was a legacy of colonialism and was the subject of imperialist intrigue to create enmity between Guyana and Venezuela.  In a resoundingly successful and popular visit, he announced to the Guyanese people that Venezuela would no longer object to the economic development of the Essequibo. This policy towards Guyana and the border controversy, based on a wider perspective promoted by Chavez of solidarity among countries of this region, resulted in mutually beneficial economic relations which continue. Chavez’s policy has now been abandoned by the Venezuelan Government and military.

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BALRAM SINGH RAI

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 6th June 2015, 7:00 pm

Guyanese who have served their country with distinction can once again look forward to being recognized. National Awards to three persons, Brynn Pollard and Llewelyn John, the latter a vintage politician going back to the 1940s, and Hamilton Green, a politician from the 1950s with a controversial past, revive the possibility that distinguished service given in the distant past by those ignored by the PPP can still be recognized. I refer to Fenton Ramsahoye and Balram Singh Rai, of the same era as the above three, but this article is about the latter. The atmosphere may now be more conducive and the time opportune to raise the issue of Rai.

Balram Singh Rai has remained an iconic political figure in Guyana’s political history, even though the last political event in which he was involved, the general elections of 1964, occurred fifty years ago. A book, Against the Grain, by Baytoram Ramharak, was published in 2005 about him. Although sympathy for Rai drips from its pages, it indicates the considerable interest that his name still evokes. His great successes and enormous contribution as well as the respect in which he was held across the board, come out clearly. Apart from Cheddi Jagan, no other leader of that era has been subject to such academic scrutiny.

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CAN THE PPP BE SAVED?

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 30th May 2015, 7:00 pm

The end of the Jagan leadership of the PPP terminated the era of real, as opposed to formal, internal democracy. Its structure and leadership model, third world and Leninist influenced, lent itself to authoritarian methods. But the Jagans ensured full discussions and neither dictated conclusions. Both changed their views from time to time after being persuaded by contrary opinion in discussions.

The symbol of that openness was that after a debate where opinion was divided, a vote was taken. However, after the Jagdeo leadership gained traction, voting after discussions ceased at his instance. Jagdeo summed up all discussions and the summing up, containing his views, was the decision. He still does so. Elections at and after Congress began to be grossly manipulated. Both Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo publicly opposed the 2011 presidential candidate being elected by secret ballot.

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THE FALL OF THE PPP

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 23rd May 2015, 7:00 pm

The PPP’s boast has always been that it never lost elections. While it gained the highest votes in 1964, it was the PNC that was invited to form the government, which it did in coalition with the United Force. The slogan of ‘cheated not defeated’ resounded through the decades. The slogan is once again rearing its head. The claim that it lost as a result of fraud allows it to maintain the delusion, for the benefit of its supporters, that it has never lost elections. This also serves to protect its leaders and policies from critical analysis and corrective action and revive its historic claims to victimology, now of an openly posturing ethnic political entity, to sustain the sympathy of its innocent supporters against the tribal hordes.

The fall of the PPP, though a shock to its leaders and members, which will take some time for them to come to terms with, was a gradual process and commenced in 1997 with the passing of Cheddi Jagan. He was the only person within the PPP who kept alive the flame of national unity by way of a coalition, despite the triumphalism in 1992 and a deeply hostile PNC. When he passed in 1997, those forces in the PPP that opposed national unity by coalition, gained total control and the subject was never again discussed. It was no secret that Mrs. Jagan was a firm opponent of any political accommodation with the PNC.

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GUYANA HAS SPOKEN

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 16th May 2015, 7:00 pm

I should like to take this opportunity to express my congratulations to the APNU+AFC alliance on its historic victory at the general and regional elections and to David Granger, Guyana’s new President. Most of Guyana, including civil society, many PPP supporters and spokespersons associated with or representing the Hindu cultural community, wish the new government success. We all look forward to measures to reduce poverty and corruption and for constitutional reform.

The results were close, as many observers had predicted, but the APNU+AFC alliance won the right to form the Government. A majority of the Guyana electorate supported APNU+AFC’s message, ‘It Is Time,’ which resonated with an electorate that had grown tired of what the PPP/C was offering, appeared to have little confidence in its promises, was not moved by its divisive message and voted for change.

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The Conversation Tree is both physical and philosophical. The physical is the tree itself, which has given its name to the road from which it originates at the intersection of the Rupert Craig Highway. It was reputedly first planted by Napleton William King in 1876 to celebrate the birth of his son Napleton Walter. As...
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