The political situation is deteriorating in Guyana, even educated Afros view the PPP as an installed Gov’t, (while our educated Indians are treating the PNC dictatorship as a legitimate Gov’t). There’s no middle ground emerging from the Afro community, in fact the middle ground is sliding into a dangerous form of Black nationalism. The CIA had predicted that if Black nationalism spread in the Caribbean, Guyana specifically mentioned, will be in trouble.
In 1992 even before the election, Hoover Business Analytics, a risk assessment firm based in the U.S predicted that the “PNC will use its leverage in the armed forces and civil service to sabotage the incoming PPP Government”. That prediction turned out to be spot on. After Jagan returned to Office, it was revealed that his personal secretary, a PNC leftover, was passing info to the opposition. Later the Police/Army were the ones instigating the anti indian violence in Buxton. Recently, GECOM (staffed primarily with Opposition supporters) instigated the election fiasco last year. President “well fed” Ali visited Bath Settlement village after anti Indian violence erupted last September, he was told that Afro soldiers and Police stood by and did nothing to stop the violence. Instead of investigating, he attacked the accuser, “don’t bring race into it” he retorted.
For over Thirty years now I have been saying the PPP made massive secret deals with the PNC prior to the 1992 election that rendered them helpless, the U.S and the PNC played their hands well and entrapped the PPP which is now leading to its destruction. The WPA also accused the PPP of “secret deals with Washington”,(May 2006 stabroek news). With the PPP hands tied the Opposition can now work on its plans to destabilize the country and drive Indians out of Guyana ensuring a future election victory…..with victory in sight, the Opposition will become more malevolent and determined in its destabilization efforts. The PPP’s inability to take control over the power structures is enabling the Opposition to prepare the final solution. Guyana is witnessing another racially motivated crime wave designed to send Indians abroad.
Ominously, Afro Guyanese are descending into a rabid form of Black nationalism seen in Uganda and Zimbabwe in the past and now evolving in South Africa. The worldwide BLM movement has arrived in Guyana and will add fuel to this form of Nationalism.
Black nationalism is an irrational force….simply put it states that Blacks must govern themselves, produce for themselves and empower themselves….even at the expense of others. This is why the expulsion of Indians in Uganda and Zimbabwe was popular in the African diaspora. When Mugabe visited Harem, black women shouted “free the land, free the land.”. When Burnham denied Indians their human rights, Caribbean leaders were dead silent while vocal about racism in South Africa. As I said before, replace Indians in Guyana or Trinidad with Portuguese, Arabs or Chinese and the same problem would exist. This confirms that racial problems exist because Afros don’t want equal rights, they want equality…or special rights.
Even with special rights, way above what is guaranteed under the Constitution, they refuse to be governed by Indians. The PPP gave them a 43% pay raise after the riots in 1997, they are majority in the Police/Army/Courts/Civil service. Afro villages get special treatment with resources. No Afro leaders were held accountable for atrocities committed against Indians and it seems are perpetually above the laws. As I mentioned Black nationalism is an irrational force. When the issue of Indian rights comes up it’s quickly dismissed both by Afros and Indian leaders who are all too happy to feed snake as it gets bigger and bigger until now it’s an existential threat. The PPP cannot win another election, they dug their own grave with their own hands.
Oil will not save Guyana, it will actually hasten its demise. Afros are not mercantile people, they’ll have to spend oil money transfer from the State to them at Indian businesses, over time, as we’ve seen in similarly situated countries the Indian mercantile class get very wealth (Indians controlled 80% of Uganda’s economy by 1974), which opportunistic Black racists will seize upon (South Africa). Furthermore, Oil will have little economic value by 2026, and Guyana is already following the path of other nations that pushed austerity aside when oil money started flowing in. With pay raises for everyone, where is the money going to come from when oil is a declining asset ? In 1987 when oil prices collapsed Afros turned on Indians in Trinidad, forcing the Canadian Refugee Board to grant them asylum.
As I mentioned in a previous article, the PPP has no choice but to marginalize Afros if it wants to stay in power, they have to go on the offensive. One cannot win a game of cricket if the opposing team is cheating, but somehow that’s not in their DNA. If Indian leaders sell out Indians, the intellectual Indians are complicit in the act. They don’t believe in revenge, justice or partition….what do they believe…same old appeasement. Some of them are arguing for “affirmative actions” to bring Afros up, hmmmm, we had twenty eight years of AA for Afros under the PNC, how did that turn out. ?
My advice to Indians: get out of Guyana…..before it’s too late.