Race, Ideology & Power in Guyana

• Widespread appeal among Guyanese lower classes - exploiting economic frustration
• PAC attracted both African and Indian workers and farmers
• Issues between racial groups: racially exclusive patterns of settlement, different cultural values, and conflicting occupational interests = racial consciousness divide
• Africans and Indians made up over 80% of the population
• East India Leader, Jagan, was widely supported by East Indian voters - evident in 1947 elections
• PAC discovered a non-racial ideological appeal to the workers and peasants was insufficient ergo PAC also needed a strong Afro-Guyanese leader who had the same magnetic appeal among the Africans - socialist appeal was not enough

• In 1950 PAC converted itself to the People's Progressive Party (PPP)
• Jagan and Burnham's "dual charisma," rooted in race and ideology, became the basis of leadership of the anti-colonial independence movement and 80% of the population was available for recruitment under the socialist umbrella
• Catering to the demands for racial representation proved to be very successful because in the elections of 1953 PPP won 18 of the 24 seats in the unicameral legislature
• Less than 6 months after their victory the PPP openly threatened to nationalize key foreign companies while demanding radical political and economic reform
• As a result the Colonial Office in Britain suspended the Constitution after 133 days and British troops landed in the colony to maintain law and order - PPP leader, Jagan, was jailed and Burnham was placed under house arrest.
• the suspension caused a major crisis in the PPP - leadership and ideological: strong disagreements between Jagan and Burnham

• In a year Jagan and Burnham split and Burnham slowly culminated support for capitalist pro-western policies
• He gained support from middle class East Indians and drew mass support from the predominantly urban, black lower-class
• The black middle class rejected PPP radicalism. To gain their support he dissociated himself from Marxism and shifted from "socialism" to "mixed economy"
• In 1957 elections Burnham tried to to bridge together middle and lower classes. Burnham lost this election to Jagan.
• Burnham needed to alter his ideological position, but he could not retreat too far right from his original socialist approach without fear of losing the support of African wage workers
• To strengthen his support he relied on appeals to race, which reduced the importance of ideology. By doing so the black middle class accepted a leader who was more leftist while the black lower classes settled with the moderate interests of the middle classes

• in 1958, Burnham joined the UPD, the union was later changed to the Peoples National Congress (PNC). The word "socialism" was replaced with "mixed-economy"
• Between 1957 and 1963 the period was characterized by unprecedented racial turmoil and violence. The 1961 elections were crucial because it was supposed to be the last election under colonial rule. It was completely divided by race and ideology, so much so that independence was denied from Guyana until 1964 due to civil and political disputes between Jagan, the PPP and the UF
• postponing the elections, and ultimately postponing independence, caused racial hostilities to intensify, disruptions, strikes, and demonstrations occurring throughout 1962 and 1963
• No party won a majority of seats - the PPP won by 45%. Burnham became Premier and D'Aguiar was made Finance Minster. The US government showed its immediate approval by extending generous aid under highly favourable terms to the new government

• In the 1968 elections the PNC party encouraged people to switch party allegiance - the crossovers gave them majority, but "Burnham was able to assure his party of victory in what would be established incontrovertibly as rigged elections invoking ten of thousands of fictitious votes. A predominantly black army and police ensured that political order was maintained and that political protests did not spill over into civil disobedience, riots, and demonstrations. Since then, political power in the country hast rested in the hands of a government supported on by a minority of electorate, and kept in office by repeated electoral fraud, a highly politicised army and police, and a loyal state bureaucracy"

• Between 1968 and 1977 Burnham strengthened his party's control by expanding state bureaucracy and gaining control over private sectors to the point where the state owned 80% of the country's economy
• The Problem: ran into conflict with international conditions of power. Its almost absolute economic dependence with the west left it extremely vulnerable. The country's economy was tied firmly to the state of western economies ergo when the western recession and retaliation began to cause economic distress on the country, the regime responded by moving even further to the left.

Race, Ideology & Power in Guyana

by Percy C. Hentzen & Ralph R. Premdas

A reading summary and review by Andrea Iannone

Period One:1946-1963

The Struggle for Independence

Articles Thesis

Conclusion

• After WWII the Guyanese vision was based on self-determination, rejecting its sole application to European countries, and demanding independence for the non-white European colonies
• 1946: Socialist Group - Political Affairs Committee (PAC) led by Cheddi Jagan.
• Objective: "to assist the growth and development of labour and progressive movements of British Guiana to the end of establish a strong, disciplined and enlightened party, equipped with the theory of scientific socialism"
• british colonial power was isolated as the enemy - especially foreign-owned sugar and bauxite companies

• A regimes chances of retaining political power and stability is reflected on how flexible it is able to respond to demands. A regime can also maintain popularity if it exploits a communal appeal like race.
• A regime becomes vulnerable when members of strategic groups begin to experience relative deprivation which makes them likely to oppose the government and support calls for change
• A successful regime can maintain power by changing its ideologies based on current new political and economical realities by changing the direction of its policies.

• An attempt to explain the changes of ideology by focusing on President Burnham's policies and orientations over the last 30 years.
• changes in ideological direction are related to changing conditions of political power and the need to respond
• focusing on 4 period in recent political history
• ideological flexibility is a response to the changing prerequisites for capturing and relating political power - key ingredient to Bunham's and the PNC's continued political success

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Political Scandal

Period Three: 1969-1977

The Ideological Implications of PNC Control

• The PNC-UF continued to uphold old colonial practices by favouring people with personal skills and foreign and local business and owners of property. This left out the majority of Burnhams wage labourers out of the equation.
• A formal turn to socialism was beneficial to the regime because it placed resources of private sectors under the control of the regime, it justified and expanded state administrative bureaucracy to fun a welfare programme, and lastly it expanded control over the distribution of economic resources which could be used in the pursuit of its own power interests
• The regime attempted to incorporate the lower-class followers into benefiting from socialist policies. In 1970 the PNC began locating landless blacks into the East Indian peasant agricultural sector, thus giving them independent economic base while relieving the predominant hold the East Indians had on agricultural growth

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Period Four:After 1978

New Realities of Political Power

• Economic difficulties still continued in the country, but the PNC still prevailed in finding supporters, but the economic crisis began to take affect.
• between 1973 and 1975 the state felt the presence of economic downfall due to poor economic performance that affected cutbacks in the current budget of and in capital projects
• The regime was forced to raise revenue by increasing taxes on incomes, custom duties, purchase taxes, and removing subsidies on essential customer items. Cutbacks were forced on imports that lead to a severe shortage of necessary goods and essentials, lowering the capacity the state could provide basic services, especially in urban areas. Unemployment was persistent
• the Working People's Alliance (WPA) formed and developed and alliance with the PPP. The regime had 2 distinct problems : 1) succumbing to the demands of the radical and lead the government further left while compromising an alliance between WPA and the PPP would remain dominant AND 2) for any hope of economic recovery they relied on increasing western assistance, which was unlikely if the regime continued to to escalate its commitment to a radical political and economic programme
• Eventually Guyana was forced to rethink its economic policies and the radical rhetoric cooled noticeably and once again welcomed foreign private enterprises the the Guyanese economy.