African Males hired…… for murder in Guyana!

There was a time in Guyana when young African males were either in school, in the National Service, gainfully employed, farming, or learning some trade which they could use to support themselves More »

BURHNAM2

THE O. R. TAMBO AWARD AND THE SINISTER CAMPAIGN TO DENIGRATE LFSB.

The recent brouhaha over the South African government’s decision to award the Oliver Tambo to Forbes Burnham of Guyana has resulted in a deferment of this honor, collective embarrassment for the Guyanese More »

Anil-Nandlall

“Guyana’s racially partisan AG means those who do not share his ethnicity can have no expectation of equal justice”

by Keith Williams Look, the fact that a nation has an AG who clearly and unambiguously is racially partisan means that those who do not share his ethnicity can have no expectation More »

subhan

Protected: Daughter of PPPC supporter allegedly raped and abused by government official; tripartite coverup by Police, Hospital and PPPC government ensues

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post. More »

kwakwani

‘He might be a criminal, but he’s our criminal’ Why do political parties in Guyana turn a blind eye to mediocrity and criminality?

Making the rounds on social media today is a blog written by some person(s) calling themselves “peoplepowerguyana” [http://peoplepowerguyana.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/hello-world/]. The blog looks relatively new, but the story today reinforced the already compelling case More »

June 13 cometh- Rodney’s death anniversary, what will be the new ‘story?’ by Minette Bacchus

June 12, 2013   admin   No comments
black youth1

June 13th cometh and Walter Rodney’s name will parade the national spotlight in the usual finger-pointing, divisive, deification, reinvention and sanitization of his political life, and absent any serious action to make real the 2005 legislative vote to establish an Independent International Commission of Enquiry (IICE). This yearly parade will be dutifully facilitated by the media, no question asked or accountability demanded, including the WPA’s role regarding Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham being a potential recipient of the OR Tambo Award; equally as the politicking that the WPA has betrayed Rodney with their convenient alliance with the ‘dreaded’ PNC in the APNU; and the WPA will bask in the attention and another escape at being held to account. The charade will continue with some continuing the exploitation of the divide and conquer strategy, vilification of the person/group (Burnham/PNC) they love to hate, the continued distortion of our history, and the social/political/academic/ sympathetic relevance secured from acting the part.

Conscious what is about to be said would be blasphemous to Rodney’s folks and those who benefit from the mangled use of his name and politics, the time has come where people must be prepared to dispassionately examine Rodney from a holistic angle, including truthfully exposing his politics, political activities, how he died, and whom (including him) may be responsible. And building on Dennis Wiggins’ approach to Burnham that “The actions of heads of state should be viewed in their totality not in isolation” (SN, May 10, 2013), similar treatment must be meted out to Rodney’s actions as a political leader/potential head of state.

Understandably, Bro. Eusi Kwayana thinks Rodney had a right to life (SN, June 3, 2013), but this right to life cannot be looked at in isolation of Rodney’s belief in armed revolution, and the advice that “What you have to do is win over a section of the army, and you have arms. And you could also take away arms from the government [,]” followed by the admittance that “We were accumulating weapons… we were accumulating equipment of various kinds. A certain amount of that was coming from the, from the military” (respectively, world renowned CLR James, Jan. 30, 1981; and WPA co-leader Rupert Roopnarine, SN, September 19, 2010). Evidently the approach to taking power through the barrel of a gun would have denied the right to life to others, an action Rodney was willing to pursue. Or should it be believed that the right to life is guaranteed only to Rodney and those who partnered with him in said acts and not to others who would be so affected by said actions.

The WPA has to be careful that in their felt need to sanitize Rodney’s politics, albeit such happened in an era given to such actions, they do not make Rodney out as a hypocrite, self- serving and supreme. It is also unfortunate that public reference of this aspect of Rodney’s politics not only saw a disclaimer from widow Patricia Rodney and family (SN, September 10, 2010) but Kwayana sees this as “delighted many who have begun to cross-examine others.” Aren’t people allowed free-thinking on Rodney and why should such be reduced to being “delighted” and not the same thing Kwayana professes, i.e., “Challenges will be welcome as we must clear the air without polluting it [?]” (SN, June 3, 2013). Herein is another example of the WPA’s duplicity and arrogance.

In Kwayana’s “South African gov’t should have consulted Rodney family before deciding to confer Tambo Award” (SN, May 27, 2013) this designation to supremacy in the global political pantheon is given wherein it is argued Rodney’s family should have been consulted on matter relating to Burnham, even as the South African gov’t may never have done so in bequeathing the award to others whom may also be accused, implicated or complicit in the deaths of others! And this pronouncement is made even as Rodney’s family remains silent to the insurmountable wrongs and daily mismanagement that passes for governance in the country he is said to love. Given this application isn’t it reasonable to conclude the absent of consultation with the Rodney family, along with their noted silence and historical projection of Rodney as Guyana’s ideal leader, tantamount to his satisfaction over the country’s state of affairs? Can the society ever expect the Rodney family and beneficiaries of Rodney’s cultivated image to rise above infantile and selective politics and grief and honestly give to jack his jacket?
And the arguments presented by me (SN, May 7, 2013) that the evidence to date does not point to Burnham’s culpability in Rodney’s death attracted a non-intellectual response from Freddie Kissoon (KN, May 9, 2013) who has not yet learnt the art to disagree without being disagreeable and is prone to be inconsistent in his arguments. My observation was twisted by him to communicate that I “declared that there is evidence that President Forbes Burnham was not involved in the plot to murder Rodney.”And in spite of his visceral rants and protestations of who is a fool or cow, he failed to provide any shred of evidence to prove my observation incorrect besides expecting belief because the oft repeated position of Burnham’s ‘guilt’ has been made by tom, dick and harry and this makes it so!  One would expect that while the average person can escape providing evidence in making claim, this concept would find its rightful place and guardianship by those who were/are part of the academic community or believe in the course of justice.
Similarly, Tacuma Ogunseye (SN, May 7, 2013) challenges PNC leader David Granger’s reliance on army personnel Gregory Smith’s account of what took place on June 13, 1980 via his book ‘Assassination Cry of a Failed Revolution: The Truth About Dr. Walter Rodney’  but expects that his pronouncement of Burnham’s guilt be accepted as the truth because he says so. Jumping into the fray is M. Maxwell. Attempting to take swipes at me but tripped over self by first claiming, “Ultimately and unequivocally, a powerful national figure like Walter Rodney could not be killed in a closely controlled police state like the Burnham-dominated Guyana in 1980 without Burnham’s prior knowledge, or more to the point, involvement and endorsement. That is a fact” (KN, May 25, 2013). And ‘that is a fact’ only because Maxwell says so, the evidence was not provided to support it! Then Maxwell made another sloppy claim in KN, June 1, 2013 that Burnham was an “accessory to the fact.” In both letters no attention was paid to the WPA’s admitted infiltration into the military even as rejection is made of Smith’s recount which Maxwell deemed as “salaciously fraudulent…infantile attempts at deceit in that book literally leaps off the page” to turn around and use the same book and agreed with Smith that he was “flown to Kwakwani” after the incident! (KN, June 1, 2013).
Neither Kissoon, Maxwell or Ogunseye, in as much as they pronounced Burnham’s culpability, has called for the establishment of the IICE to officially nail him, even as Granger called for the enquiry, knowing fully well the PNC’s Founder Leader stands accused. And this brings us to a critical point, where the WPA/Rodneyites/Rodney’s family has/have over the years been changing their story and playing ‘hold me-loose me’ on Rodney’s death. Having initially accused Burnham of culpability and outright condemned the work of the United Kingdom’s forensic experts brought by Burnham and the Court’s inquest held under Desmond Hoyte, they have ignored or refused to act on the 2005 IICE supported by the PNC under Robert Corbin’s leadership.
The initial excuse for not establishing the IICE was the timing would have interfered with the 2006 General Elections. This was followed by verbal trading matches among the Rodney family, WPA and PPP (SN, March 30, April 3 and 5, 2008) as to whom to blame for not proceeding. Then in 2012 the WPA called for a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” (T&RC) for disclosure on Rodney’s death claiming the “party is willing to speak about the events that preceded the assassination of co-leader Dr. Walter Rodney…with the goal of bringing the country together” (SN, June 14, 2013). In 2013 Kwayana is calling for a “civilized Commission of Inquiry” (SN June 3, 2013).

The big question is why the hesitancy and back and forth? Is there mortification of the evidence that will be brought forth, including the Forensic Report kept in the State’s protection that the PNC has been accused of with-holding; or is it felt a T&RC as against an IICE offers the needed protection/immunity for the WPA’s political actions of the 1970s and 1980s and can aid in reducing public feelings of betrayal when the truths are made public- since the WPA was not the only one doing ‘bad things’ but the PNC and PPP were also guilty. These are reasonable questions to ask and preliminary conclusions to arrive at. But suffice to say the WPA and allies must no longer be the sole/dominant determinant(s) in how the story about Rodney is written or told and the truths revealed; or allowed by themselves or with others to maintain the manufactured divisions. They have abused and squandered the trust the public placed in them, having projected themselves as the party of intellects and above reproach.
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The Crass ‘Burnham flour conspiracy against Indo-Guyanese’ myth has outlived its usefulness

May 16, 2013   admin
ppp

Like clockwork and tin soldiers, the purveyors of “the great Burnham flour conspiracy against Indo-Guyanese” will appear with their “Burnham made Indians suffer” message of victimization, in response to any attempt; serious or otherwise, to reminsce, educate or discuss LFSB’s accomplishment during his time in office. It is sometimes incredulous, how well timed the interventions are and, the interventions are frequent and varied. They often come from the most ‘outwardly’ rabid ‘anti-PPPC critics’ and expectantly from the most loyal PPPC supporters, but come they do.

And so, in the past twenty years, no real serious intellectual discourse on Burhnam and his accomplishments have been allowed into the social sphere. By and large, the anti-Burnham cabal of mostly PPPC Jaganites and their media agents have been successful in intimidating the PNC party, Burnham family members and former Burnham associates; Indian or non-Indian from sharing their experiences and or documenting for history, Burnham’s goals, challenges and shortcomings. The alleged destruction by bonfire of most of his videos archived in the custody of the government at the dawn of this much heralded democracy by well known PPP apparatchiks would have been the first salvo in this vicious plot to destroy the public record. However, with the usual overconfidence which accompanies a successful and devious plot, they overplayed their hand by unfolding their evil plan to foil LFSB’s recognition by the South African government.

The most disgusting assumption in the “great Burnham flour conspiracy  is that only Indians suffered from the Government’s banning of a wide list of food imports. To hear the purveyors of the victim theory tell it; roti was the only product made with flour at that time in history. In fact, they are adamant that Burnham’s banning of flour impacted only Indians. Sadly the perspective, often advanced by the PPPC race-baiters like Jagdeo, Ramotar, Nandilall & Persaud, is not only understandably simplistic, but it ignores the fact that all other Guyanese ate roti, and bread, and pastries, and pasta and all the other foods derived from flour.

What is so often missing in these innane interventions is a recognition of the fact that the options available to Guyanese people at that time was not Socialism v Democracy; it was Burnham’s Socialism v Cheddi’s Marxism-Leninism, both options despised by the Western powers that worked against Burnham’s economy, the same way they would have worked against a Cheddi Jagan Maxist-Leninist economy. So at that time in history, Guyanese were destined to be subject to the effects of Western economic sanctions resulting in foreign exchange shortage and thus the banning of a wide range of food items. Further, what the PPPC will never admit is that Cheddi Jagan give his blessing to the banning of the food items which both leaders believed could be produced locally in Guyana [or at least substitutes].

What is even more clear is that all people of Guyana paid the price for Guyana’s economic estrangement from the West. In fact, it was the new PNC government of Desmond Hoyte that introduced reforms like the Economic Recovery Program which opened up the markets and returned the country to a Democratic political and more acceptable Capitalist economic system.  Today of course, one expects the crass, largely uneducated PPPC minions to spout the party line ‘flour victimization’ theory in order to shore up its support base, but what one finds inexcusable is that relatively intelligent people who should know better, who should be more intellectually curious continue to allow themselves to be bombarded with such a grossly ignorant and racist perspective.
Thankfully, this recent, egregious attack against Burnham’s legacy, coupled with the benefit of social media communication channels have allowed supporters of Burhnam’s legacy another medium to have their say; and have it they do. The truth is finally beginning to see the light of day as more and more Guyanese citizens step forward to share their truths and as more young Guyanese read various perspectives for themselves and realize the backward propagandistic drivel they are continually fed by PPPC minions in Guyana. The shades have been lifted

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African Males hired…… for murder in Guyana!

May 14, 2013   admin

There was a time in Guyana when young African males were either in school, in the National Service, gainfully employed, farming, or learning some trade which they could use to support themselves and their young families. Today, Guyana’s schools, especially those not listed in the top 10 are largely factories which students find uninspiring and demotivating.  For many, their inferior schools enable them to begin only the long journey to prison, hard labor, or to become wards of their families in the Diaspora.

The consequence of living under the PPPC ethnocracy where one can routinely hear racist speeches from the likes of Jagdeo, Ramotar, Nandlall and others, create divisions and encourage dangerous stereotypes among ethnic groups.

The PPPC’s policy of racial isolation, their lack of investment in education, their scrapping of the successful national service program and their inability to create job opportunities for graduates of UG or Trade schools all conspire to create more African security guards, mini bus touts, school dropouts, and yes, guns for hire. In Guyana, unemployment, poverty and hopelessness in the African community have created an atmosphere of need, so much so, that those benefiting from rule by the racist PPPC regime; increasingly see young African males as nothing more than a source of labor to settle scores.

It is against this backdrop that the ‘murder for hire’ industry thrives. Last Weekend in Guyana, well known social activist, Mark Benschop, was solicited by an Indian couple who were willing to pay $100k each for him to ‘get two black boys’ to kill some people for them. This ‘murder for hire’ story; a huge story by any standard, was largely ignored by the government media houses; Guyanese citizens should wonder why.

This writer will not dive into the psychosis affecting a section of society, so brain-washed into believing dangerous racial stereotypes, that even a high profile, community activist could be approached in this way, but what we must review is the suffocating environment created by the PPPC ethnocracy, which when coupled with H&J nonstop mindless music videos, flashy products shown in Western advertising from illegal cable piped into Guyana, all mixed up with poverty and young families and hopelessness; taking a risk to earn quick money to feed your family and buy ‘nice things’, often seems like a not so bad idea.

Smart Guyanese know that this short sighted period of ethno-rule will not last for much longer. Sadly, those same youngsters who are being cultivated on the margins to work as laborers for many criminal supporters of the PPPC regime will find themselves increasingly dissatisfied with their benefactors. Government policy which is more interested in investing in Hotels & buildings than investing in young people will feel the wrath of those same misguided, uneducated young people, and soon. Underpaid, under-trained, abused police and army ranks who today enable this corrupt regime to stand, may soon realize the savage inequalities their support encourages. When they begin to question their role, the cards will all fall. Smart government officials in the PPPC should be pushing for an end to racial discrimination and corruption, as a matter of survival. They know [the smart ones], that ‘the hate that hate made’, will one day create a fire which they will not be able to control.

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THE O. R. TAMBO AWARD AND THE SINISTER CAMPAIGN TO DENIGRATE LFSB.

May 07, 2013   admin
BURHNAM2

The recent brouhaha over the South African government’s decision to award the Oliver Tambo to Forbes Burnham of Guyana has resulted in a deferment of this honor, collective embarrassment for the Guyanese nation and further trauma for the surviving families of both Forbes Burnham and Walter Rodney. According to the accusations of the opposing camp Burnham is culpable for the death of this world-renowned academic and as such does not deserve the prize.

Dovetailing wonderfully with a further indictment of Burnham, the calls for the rescission of the award have been both strident and overly personal and bears all the hallmarks of what appears as a carefully planned and executed campaign to dismantle this great leader’s legacy while elevating and deifying Walter Rodney. This effort to place Walter Rodney above the altar of ideological purity (while triangulating the ultimate revolutionary ideal and attributing this to Rodney solely), further appears to reject nuance and reason in its ill-timed attack. In doing so, the putative progressive coalitions launched coordinated salvos in media controlled and facilitated by their friends. Established professional courtesies such as the right of reply, were given short shrift. Thus SABC hosted a US based academic who launched an hour long tirade loaded with personal invective against Burnham while other sites ( H-Net-South Africa , for instance, ) have entertained a range of commentary, the majority of which seems to support the agenda of the accusers with what appears to be an aggressive opposition to persons seeking equal exposure. Such are the ethics of the new revolutionary ideal!

The Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo is awarded to foreign nationals (Heads of State and Government) and other foreign dignitaries. It is awarded for friendship shown to South Africa. It is therefore an order of peace, co-operation and active expression of solidarity and support.

Burnham showed his interest in Africa as early as the 1960’s when he asked Eusi Kwayana to visit 16 African States to explore the potential for establishing diplomatic relations.

Under Burnham’s leadership, Guyana became an activist state within the Non-Aligned Movement and ardently championed the cause of the African Liberation Movement.

Regionally, Burnham led the Caricom movement in articulating and coordinating a Caribbean position against the continuation of imperialism, colonialism and racism in Africa. The Burnham-led government also established “Africa Solidarity Week” during which time high-ranking officials of the African Liberation Movement would visit Guyana. Burnham also launched a “National Signature Campaign For the Release of Nelson Mandela” urging the national media to wage a campaign to educate and inform the Guyanese public and the wider Caribbean about the horrors of Apartheid and the unjust incarceration of Nelson Mandela.

President Burnham was also a driving force behind the formation of the International Association of National Services Organizations (IANSO) which counted Tanzania and Zambia, as members, among many others.

The Burnham led government also passed a resolution to extend financial support to the African Liberation Movement to the tune of up to Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States dollars annually. Burnham also arranged for the relevant organs of state to “facilitate the refueling and resupplying of Cuban aircraft on Guyanese soil on their way to Angola to support Cuban and Angolan forces in their fight against the Apartheid regime. He paid State visits to a number of African countries and invited several African Heads of State to visit Guyana. President Kaunda and President Samora Machel two of the leading lights in the Frontline States visited Guyana as a result of this initiative.

President Burnham also hosted Mr. Oliver Tambo in Guyana where he was accorded the usual protocol and courtesies and dignity usually extended to a Head of State. Mr. Tambo addressed an Extraordinary Session of the Parliament of Guyana while here as a guest of President Burnham.

In the United Kingdom, Sir John Carter, Guyana’s High Commissioner between 1970 and 1975, played a crucially important role as Chairman of the Commonwealth Sanctions Committee which helped to chart the Commonwealth Policy on UDI in Zimbabwe and Apartheid in South Africa.

At the 35th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Ambassador Noel Sinclair served as Chairman of the Fourth Committee. At this forum Guyana championed the cause of the ANC and condemned the Apartheid regime. Under the leadership of Forbes Burnham, Guyana played a critical and important role in the formation of the United Nations Council for Namibia. Guyana’s Sir John Carter was elected the President of the council and the Burnham-led government hosted a significant international conference in Georgetown, Guyana.

In 1981, at a University of California conference, CLR James, in his tribute to Walter Rodney departed from the effort at deification which has become so common in the popular but simplistic tendency to juxtapose good (Rodney) versus evil (Burnham) prevalent in the revolutionary zeitgeist among the academic elite who champion this selective narrative. He observed that a revolution is an objective situation which one can influence but not necessarily control while noting that there were significant deficiencies inherent in Walter Rodney’s revolutionary program.

From the outset, the two-fold objective of this entire exercise has been to hijack the discussion of Burnham’s contribution to the liberation of South Africa while continuing the questionable narrative in spite of the inherent contradictions inherent in such an approach. That this would be championed by many respected academics raises serious questions about the intellectual honesty of this cohort.

Unfortunately many of the Rodneyite revolutionary types seem to have invested their sense of revolutionary self-worth in their own narrow narrative of their revolutionary conflict with the Burnham regime even in light of recent revelations that the WPA was indeed stockpiling arms to overthrow the State. The results of numerous investigations, one of which was conducted by experts from Scotland Yard as well as a judicial ruling which ascribing Rodney’s death to “misadventure” are of no use to them. Of no apparent use either, was a most intriguing development in the Parliament of Guyana in which the ruling PPP regime chose to vote against their own resolution thereby scuttling an opportunity for yet another enquiry despite their obsession with denigrating Burnham and Africans in their 20 year rule. This history as these revolutionaries tell it is a part of who they are and goes some way in defining their identities. So Horace Campbell justifies his recent vociferous actions against the award to Burnham and frames Rodney’s demise as resulting from an opposition to academic freedom. Such a narrative, because it is selective, is a minefield of analytical challenges for an objective seeker of fact. In the absence of a full investigation, this is the enduring problem with the “Burnham killed Rodney” narrative .

It is all the more troubling that many of these revolutionaries have chosen silence in the face of revelations of a genocidal campaign in which over 400 young Africans were murdered by killing squads led by a convicted drug lord who boasted of working openly with the ruling Indian led PPP Government of Guyana and also in the light of an established and implemented public policy of racial discrimination and domination in its governance as revealed in a recent court case.

We should seek a principled approach as consistently as possible. This honor should have been awarded to the Hon. LFS Burnham many years ago. That it has now been tainted by this artificial controversy in the face of a vacillating South African government has raised deep questions about the sincerity of the South African government’s decision to honor Forbes Burnham with the award. Now, in light of this all, the family of Burnham should decline the award and demonstrate the dignity Burnham demonstrated when by boycotting the 1972 Olympic Games, he chose solidarity with the international anti-apartheid forces over an opportunity to win Guyana’s first Olympic gold medal. Contrary to the myopic view of some, Burnham’s legacy with regards to African liberation, Caribbean Federation and other aspects of enlightened political leadership, despite tremendous challenges during his tenure remains formidable. History will undoubtedly absolve him and those who seek to honor his historical contributions will always work to continue to place his record on a deserving pedestal. Guyanese and the surviving family of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham can continue to hold their heads high in spite of this slight. His contributions and commitment remain unassailable.

 

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“Guyana’s racially partisan AG means those who do not share his ethnicity can have no expectation of equal justice”

May 07, 2013   admin
Anil-Nandlall

by Keith Williams

Look, the fact that a nation has an AG who clearly and unambiguously is racially partisan means that those who do not share his ethnicity can have no expectation of equal justice. What will it take for political leaders to make these simple constructions and address these issues publicly and with no reservation?

I am disgusted that the opposition would allow this man to remain in the position he holds, without challenging him based on his clearly expressed racial and political bias. It does not matter if the regime refuse to move him. Get it on the record. Take it to the UN with his history. 

The case can be made that based on the office Nandallal holds over the Justice System, the potential to use the power of that office to do harm, his political and ethnic partisan allegiance, his clear and unequivocal ethnic supremacist disposition, and the fact that the major oppositon constituency has already been the victims of extra judicial lynchings in which more than 400 young men were summarily kidnapped and executed, that group does not believe that they can expect equal justice from the system. 

This must be made at the highest international level, vehemently and unapologetically made. They must state with no reservation that they would like the regime to be held criminally responsible for any acts of violence perpetuated against this group, any killings that fit the pattern of what obtained before, any use of the security forces to take away the liberty of those connected to this constituency, or not ethnicly or politically connected to the party in power. They must make this pelucidly clear to these international bodies, and require their assent to monitor the situation in Guyana and execute the dictates of international law to protect all of the citizens of Guyana, regardless from where the threat to their security might originate. 

These kinds of things is what responsible leaders do. They do not wait for catastrophic events that harm individuals and group before taking appropriate actions. Are they brain dead, or so berift of forward thinking that their capacity to lead in conditions as exists in Guyana presents a real challenge. WTF is the problem with the opposition?

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The decision to rescind the OR Tambo award for President Forbes Burnham by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa

April 27, 2013   admin
10178-Forbes_Burnham_bio

Guyanese have sat on their asses and allowed others to define their history for them. They spend enormous amounts of time on Facebook spewing bile and agonizing over who is trying to upstage or conspiring against them by creating similar groups etc. We write lengthy pseudo-intellectual articles and none will be recorded in the annals of history to defend our legacy and our great leaders and heroes.

America had presidents who were slave owners, and until recently some in congress were members of the Ku-Klux Klan and all of these have been labeled great men. Guyana had President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and we must not allow anyone to decide for us his level of greatness, he is ours and he has served our country and the world in very positive ways like no one else. Just like the American “greats,” President Burnham may have erred, but point to a man without fault and it is either you are lying or he was never born.

During the past 50 years the members of the PPP and some jaded individuals with axes to grind have waged a worldwide propaganda war against President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham without any rebuttal. The crafty misinformation has even managed to get to the ears of President Jacob Zuma and the Government of South Africa with so much of an impact that they decided to rescind the decision to grant the OR Tambo to President Forbes Burnham

Some, included a Jamaican national living in the USA Mr.Horace Campbell have in the public court of opinion convicted President Burnham for the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, and Guyanese have not issued a repudiation.We do not have to wait on any one in the opposition to write for us, we must put on our pants like men and women and let the world know about our disapproval for their characterization of a “member of our family,” and not sit idly by waiting for someone else to fight our fight.

If Mr. Campbell or anyone else has any evidence to support their claim in the death of Dr. Rodney, please get it to the courts but in the case of the award to President Burnham, respectfully, the death of Dr. Rodney does not in any way diminish the efforts and support that President Burnham showed the people of Southern Africa in their fight against the cruel and racist regime of the South African Government of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

My Guyanese friends you have much to learn, get out from under the rock that you are living, we must be trapped in a condition of mentally enslavement. Those who believe that President Forbes Burnham was so vile must take a poll and it will demonstrate that all of his vociferous and loquacious critics are beneficiaries of many of his self-sufficient and free educational policies, including the likes of President Bharat Jagdeo.

President Zuma and the people of South Africa, I was very troubled to discover you bestowed the very same OR Tambo Award to Dr. Cheddie Jagan in 2005. Dr. Jagan as a self-professed Marxist/Communist/ Socialist was able to squeeze under the credibility line and received the award. The details were sparse when it came to supporting evidence of his contributions to the freedom of Southern Africans from under the apartheid regimes of South Africa. Dr.Jagan per an article written in Time Magazine: “Once again, the fuse was lit in British Guiana, and holding the match—as usual—was Marxist Premier Cheddi Jagan. In 2½ years, as head of the self-governing South American colony, Jagan has developed into a curious combination of Castroite and racist,preaching Communism while leading some 290,000 East Indians against 330,000 anti-Jagan Negroes.” (British Guiana: Terror in theSugar Cane – Friday March 13, 1964)

Guyanese have allowed others to redefine the legacy of the only man who has done for so much with so little in the face of worldwide pressure to fight against the oppressive racist and brutal regime in Southern Africa. President Forbes Burnham staged almost a one man crusade against the policies of the South African Government and even banned West Indian and Guyanese cricketers who tacitly supported the racist inhumane Government by playing our beloved sport of cricket in that country. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, the lives of our Guyanese brothers and sisters to support the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. He provided logistical, financial and allowed Timehri to be used as a staging post for aircraft en-route to Africa with supplies and troops in support of the anti-apartheid forces.

Our friends of South Africa, I implore you to petition President Zuma to review his decision to withdraw the OR Tambo award to President Burnham, not for President Burnham, but because it is important in any thriving democracy that we get the correct version of history.

President Zuma, I find it very disappointing that South Africa has waited this long to decide to honor the number one champion of freedom for Southern Africans from the brutal grips of apartheid, and to find that the decision was rescinded, is even more alarming. Please have your unbiased researchers and Historians present you with the actual speeches and text of the speeches of President Forbes Burnham and then form your own conclusion about the level of support that Mr. Burnham provided to the anti-apartheid forces of South Africa.

My Guyanese friends, I have said this for years. Let no one define your history for you.

NOTE: Facebook is a great tool for guiding a social theme but for recording history it is useless.

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Protected: Daughter of PPPC supporter allegedly raped and abused by government official; tripartite coverup by Police, Hospital and PPPC government ensues

October 23, 2012   admin
subhan

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‘He might be a criminal, but he’s our criminal’ Why do political parties in Guyana turn a blind eye to mediocrity and criminality?

September 10, 2012   admin
kwakwani

Making the rounds on social media today is a blog written by some person(s) calling themselves “peoplepowerguyana” [http://peoplepowerguyana.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/hello-world/]. The blog looks relatively new, but the story today reinforced the already compelling case for constitutional reform in Guyana. The author(s) pointed to alleged exploits by James Bond MP, and made the case that Bond’s alleged activities and associations compromise him, therefore rendering him unable to be trusted with the responsibility of carrying out the people’s business.

Without the benefit of all the facts surrounding Bond’s alleged exploits, BrutalFacts still unequivocally supports the call for constitutional reform, local government elections, changes of abusive laws and a general return of power to the people of Guyana. We definitely support the assertion that Bond’s behaviours and activities [if true] certainly warrant the attention of his party leader who, under the current system of party politics, is the chief disciplinarian of his party.

James Bond is not unique even if the exploits attributed to him are indeed true. There are MPs [of all three major parties] who are accused of crimes including child molestation, harassment of teenage girls for sexual favors, public drunkenness, domestic abuse, theft, fraud, lies, sexism, and crimes of seemingly every other imaginable sort. Indeed the lives of far too many Guyanese politicians reveal so much treachery and debauchery that it is easy to understand why it would be nigh unto impossible to sanction, much less recall or otherwise discipline one of their own.

The saying, “he may be a criminal, but he’s our criminal” is widely embraced in the political arena in Guyana. All parties are involved. All parties are guilty. The problem is that politicians really believe that the people are there to serve them, not the other way around. Politicians do not really absorb the notion that they are in fact supposed to be the servants of the people. So many of them believe that a politician’s behavior is really his or her own business, a private matter, and certainly no concern of the citizens of Guyana who in fact, put them there and pay them. So it is, then, that so many who purport to serve residents of poverty stricken communities in Guyana really collect their $100,000 per month taxpayer funded cheques, their duty free concessions, the police guards for their homes, and yet they show up in Parliament for the most part completely unprepared. Many are unaware of key issues in their respective areas of responsibility, they do not visit their constituencies, they do not create or release reports, they really do not serve the interests of ‘the people’, and yet there is no structure or process in place for the people to sever their connections to these inept and/or criminal MPs. The people must instead rely on the whims of the party leader(s) who may or may not act choose to take decisive disciplinary or other actions.

BrutalFactsGT continues to endorse the strong need for constitutional change in Guyana. We recognise the challenge of seeking the 2/3 majority votes in Parliament to make the change real, but continue to challenge the parties to move along this path even if individually. The people deserve it, and they certainly pay for it. Each party today can decide on their own to get rid of the ugly closed list system which makes gods out of party leaders. Each party can work on legislative changes to make recall subject to referendums by the people. The parliamentary opposition could work to table a bill immediately for local government elections and return democracy to the citizens of Guyana, and each party could work to enforce a code of conduct for the representatives of the people in Parliament, with clear rules on the consequences of breaches of those rules.

The people of Guyana deserve proper representation. The people will have to continue to speak as they did in Linden, and as they did in Kwakwani, until the politicians decide to listen. Politicians need to be reminded that they are compensated by taxpayers to be the servants of the people, not parasites. Perhaps when they are compelled to internalize that fact, MPs who want to get rich will instead choose to start private businesses and steer clear of perverting civil service in Guyana.

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PPPC is incapable of negotiating with integrity; opposition and Linden negotiators blatantly disrespected and demeaned by PPPC

August 17, 2012   admin
boytank

There is a famous quote which says, “When people show you their true colors, believe them” and in politics when these words go unheeded by the people, invariably they pay the ultimate price.

Indeed, it is a reflection of the level of commitment and love for community which must compel the Linden negotiations team to continue to negotiate in private with the diabolical and brutal PPPC regime in Guyana.  But enough is enough and given that PPPC’s history of deceit and duplicitous activities did not motivate the team to take the negotiations into parliament in the first place, then surely Gail Teixeira’s ongoing lies, the vicious weekend assaults on Linden’s families and the disrespect of Ramotar’s stealth and undermining visit to Linden on August 16th, 2012 without informing the Opposition leader or the Regional Chairman of Region 10 surely should be the final nail in coffin of optimism in the success of this process.

The PPPC has managed to starve Linden of economic development over the past 20 years.  Linden, a once thriving town has now been reduced to a bastion of 75% unemployment.  A place where people live on “small pieces” and remittances from overseas and a place where there is no future for the young people who leave school with impressive qualification and must flee Linden, in fact flee Guyana for any hope of a decent life.

But all is not lost in Linden, as a Guyanese author recently stated, “Linden remains the Panama Canal of Guyana”.  Linden serves as a throughway for goods and services going into and coming out of the interior of Guyana; mostly in support of the lucrative mining and logging industries owned by overseas interests, the business elite and friends and family of corrupt government officials in Guyana.  As far as the ruthless PPPC regime is concerned, the Linden problem cannot be ignored, the Linden problem must be resolved.

Sadly, Guyana’s president, Ramotar is being advised by those who have no understanding of democracy, compromise or respect for human rights.  They are at their core bullies, unintelligent brutes and worse brutes who dangerously confuse compromise with failure, humanity with weakness and brutes who have come to understand the power of the use of racist rhetoric and violence to maintain their steel grip on Guyana and her resources.  Members of the PPPC regime, would prefer to destroy the entire town of Linden rather than acquiesce to the demands of the negotiating team to ensure a return to normalcy.

So, the citizens of Guyana get to witness their daily cunning activities.  They negotiate one hour and simultaneously get their propaganda unit to accuse the team of condoning the burning of buildings; acts in which they have been implicated, they speak of a return to normalcy while they escalate by sending brutal troops into Linden to attack residents, arrest young males, intimidate women and children and brutalize the citizenry.

Do not look for humanity from this cabal, they are incapable.  The people of Guyana must insist that all conversations with this brutal regime take place in parliament where discussions can be reported, where plans can be shared and where commitments can be documented.  Citizens of Guyana must join the struggle by implementing a MASSIVE boycott throughout Guyana.  Protests in support of the Linden people must be organized throughout the length and breadth of Guyana.  The country must be brought to a standstill and the PPPC must be forced to confront their evil and diabolical ways.  This fight is for equal rights and justice.  This fight is for an end to PPPC abuse, brutality and injustice.  This fight is for decentralization in Guyana.  This fight is for freedom of expression and for human rights for all people.  This fight is for people’s power.

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Business community beginning to pressure PPPC on Linden; Big money at stake….

July 23, 2012   admin
justice

As Lindeners remain resolute, the protests continue and based on conversations with locals on the ground, the goal of the movement has expanded to include arrest and murder charges against the officer responsible for giving the command to shoot and those who did shoot live rounds at peaceful protesters.  The protest has moved beyond the 5 day peaceful vigil to an indeterminable number of days of protest.  As one protesters shared with BrutalFactsGT, “we don’t have jobs anyway, we will be here until our goals are achieved.  The blood of our brothers who were shot down like dogs in the street will not be shed in vain.”

Reports from Cabinet insiders reveal that the PPP/C lead Government of Guyana is carefully reviewing its options.  Pressure is mounting as Chinese, Brazilian and local gold and diamond miners, loggers and business men who use Linden as a throughway daily are incensed with the PPP/C and insisting that the government must do something.

It was reported to BrutalFacts that Agriculture  Minister Leslie Ramsammy said to his friend that they are losing millions of dollars in the shipment of lumber from Linden daily and that business man Toolsie Persaud who is a sawmill owner is calling his office daily and beseeching the president to do something.  Reports are that if the situation in Linden worsens, business men who support the PPPC will come out in open condemnation of the Government.  Even the Indian sellers who ply their business of fish, greens and ground Provisions throughout the communities in Linden are fed up with Ramotar’s incompetence since they are now unable ply their trade and services and earn money to feed their own families.

It is clear that the PPPC allowed their contempt for the opposition and lack of respect for African Guyanese to override the need for a clear and thoughtful assessment of what has now become “the Linden problem”.  It is clear that no assessment was done of the consequences of raising electricity rates on a poverty stricken people who have been relegated to depending on the goodness of family members in the Diaspora to survive, who have been cut off from any decent media for 20 years and who have been summarily relegated to refugee status by a regime bent on promoting an apartheid system in Guyana where only the Indian elite and their friends and family benefit from the nation’s natural resources and development plans.

Today in Linden, a town of some sixty thousand people with five thousand gainfully employed, has been so backed into a corner that they are left with no choice but to see the struggle through to the end.

The Government of Guyana will soon be forced to back-peddle on the Linden issue.  We have recently heard none of the usual arrogant and intractable statements regarding the rate hikes  and we are beginning to see clear signs that Lindeners will emerge victorious if they maintain the struggle and stay the course.

The big problem now is that the PPPC must find a way to bring charges against the Commander in Charge Clifton Hicken.  This will be especially difficult in light of his drug dealing contacts, his connections to Rohee and his knowledge of compromised people and places.

Clearly, the PPPC must find a graceful way out of this situation, but “dis time nah lang time” and the usual cover-up, band-aids and impotent commissions which result in delayed and incomplete findings will not do.  Clearly rate increases must be tabled, clearly the murders must be punished, clearly investment must come to Linden, clearly the communications blackout must be lifted on Linden and clearly the PPPC must commit to fairness and equality under the law for all citizens of Guyana.

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