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Before the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited by both [[Carib]] and [[Arawak]] tribes, who named it Guiana, which means land of many waters. The [[United Provinces|Dutch]] settled in [[Guyana]] in the late [[16th century]], but their control ended when the [[Great Britain|British]] became the de facto rulers in [[1796]]. The colonies of [[Essequibo]], [[Demerara]], and [[Berbice]] were officially ceded to the [[United Kingdom]] in the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]] and at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in [[1815]]. In [[1831]] they were consolidated as British Guiana. Following the abolition of [[slavery]] in [[1834]], thousands of indentured laborers were brought to Guyana to replace the slaves on the [[sugarcane]] plantations, primarily from [[India]] but also from [[Portugal]] and [[China]]. The British stopped the practice in [[1917]]. Many of the Afro-Guyanese former slaves moved to the towns and became the majority urban population, whereas the Indo-Guyanese remained predominantly rural. A scheme in 1862 to bring black workers from the [[United States]] was unsuccessful. The small [[Amerindian]] population lives in the country's interior. |
Before the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited by both [[Carib]] and [[Arawak]] tribes, who named it Guiana, which means land of many waters. The [[United Provinces|Dutch]] settled in [[Guyana]] in the late [[16th century]], but their control ended when the [[Great Britain|British]] became the de facto rulers in [[1796]]. The colonies of [[Essequibo]], [[Demerara]], and [[Berbice]] were officially ceded to the [[United Kingdom]] in the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]] and at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in [[1815]]. In [[1831]] they were consolidated as British Guiana. Following the abolition of [[slavery]] in [[1834]], thousands of indentured laborers were brought to Guyana to replace the slaves on the [[sugarcane]] plantations, primarily from [[India]] but also from [[Portugal]] and [[China]]. The British stopped the practice in [[1917]]. Many of the Afro-Guyanese former slaves moved to the towns and became the majority urban population, whereas the Indo-Guyanese remained predominantly rural. A scheme in 1862 to bring black workers from the [[United States]] was unsuccessful. The small [[Amerindian]] population lives in the country's interior. |
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The people drawn from these diverse origins have coexisted peacefully for the most part. Slave revolts, such as the one in 1763 led by Guyana's national hero, Cuffy, demonstrated the desire for basic rights but also a willingness to compromise. |
The people drawn from these diverse origins have coexisted peacefully for the most part. Slave revolts, such as the one in 1763 led by Guyana's national hero, Cuffy, demonstrated the desire for basic rights but also a willingness to compromise. Racial disturbances between Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese erupted in 1962-64, due in large part to external intervention. However, the basically conservative and cooperative nature of Guyanese society contributed to a cooling of racial tensions. |
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Guyanese politics, nevertheless, occasionally has been turbulent. The first modern political party in Guyana was the People's Progressive Party (PPP), established on January 1, 1950, with Forbes Burnham, a British-educated Afro-Guyanese, as chairman; Dr. Cheddi Jagan, a U.S.-educated Indo-Guyanese, as second vice chairman; and his American-born wife, Janet Jagan, as secretary general. The PPP won 18 out of 24 seats in the first popular elections permitted by the colonial government in 1953, and Dr. Jagan became leader of the house and minister of agriculture in the colonial government. However, Jagan's Marxist views caused concern in Washington. On October 9, 1953, five months after his election, |
Guyanese politics, nevertheless, occasionally has been turbulent. The first modern political party in Guyana was the People's Progressive Party (PPP), established on January 1, 1950, with [[Forbes Burnham]], a British-educated Afro-Guyanese, as chairman; Dr. [[Cheddi Jagan]], a U.S.-educated Indo-Guyanese, as second vice chairman; and his American-born wife, [[Janet Jagan]], as secretary general. The PPP won 18 out of 24 seats in the first popular elections permitted by the colonial government in 1953, and Dr. Jagan became leader of the house and minister of agriculture in the colonial government. However, Jagan's Marxist views caused concern in Washington. On October 9, 1953, five months after his election, the British suspended the constitution and landed troops because, they said, the Jagans and the PPP were planning to make Guyana a communist state. These events led to a manipulated split in the PPP, in which Burnham broke away and founded what eventually became the People's National Congress (PNC). Colonial interests, which hoped to thwart the Guyanese independence movement, instigated conflict between Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese; the PPP, which was a multi-ethnic, nationalist party, was depicted as a vehicle for the majority Indo-Guyanese population, and the PNC posed as an alternative for Afro-Guyanese. |
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Elections were permitted again in 1957 and 1961, and Cheddi Jagan's PPP ticket won on both occasions, with 48% of the vote in 1957 and 43% in 1961. Cheddi Jagan became the first premier of British Guiana, a position he held for 7 years. At a constitutional conference in London in 1963, the U.K. Government agreed to grant independence to the colony but only after another election in which proportional representation would be introduced for the first time. It was widely believed that this system would reduce the number of seats won by the PPP and prevent it from obtaining a clear majority in Parliament. |
Elections were permitted again in 1957 and 1961, and Cheddi Jagan's PPP ticket won on both occasions, with 48% of the vote in 1957 and 43% in 1961. Cheddi Jagan became the first premier of British Guiana, a position he held for 7 years. At a constitutional conference in London in 1963, the U.K. Government agreed to grant independence to the colony but only after another election in which proportional representation would be introduced for the first time. It was widely believed that this system would reduce the number of seats won by the PPP and prevent it from obtaining a clear majority in Parliament. |
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From the latter part of 1963, through the early part of 1964, came the period euphemistically called "The Disturbances" by the British. The governments of The U.K. and the U.S.A. joined forces to destabilize the Guyanese political landscape, with the U.S. providing intelligence and infiltration (through the [[American Institute for Free Labor Development|American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)]]), while the British brought in brute force. AIFLD operatives instigated a 90 day strike of primarily urban and Afro-Guyanese unions, which brought the nation's economy to a halt; the strike was also the occasion for outbreaks of racial violence, as it was used to pit the predominately Indo-Guyanese government against the predominately Afro-Guyanese service unions. The British alternately moved to crush the altercations, or to simply allow them to run their course. During this period, PPP leaders such as Jagan, [[Brindley Benn]], and the man who came to be regarded as Guyana's poet laureate, [[Martin Carter]], were frequently imprisoned and harassed by the British. |
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⚫ | Guyana achieved independence |
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The "Disturbances" provided the occasion for driving the PPP from Power. The December 1964 elections gave the PPP 46%, the PNC 41%, and the United Force (UF), a conservative party, 12%. It was widely rumored that the U.S. provided funding for the UF, in exchange for its cooperation: UF threw its votes in the legislature to the PNC's Forbes Burnham, who became Prime Minister. |
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⚫ | Following Burnham's own death in 1985, Prime Minister Hugh Desmond Hoyte acceded to the presidency and was formally elected in the December 1985 national elections. Hoyte gradually reversed Burnham's policies, moving from state socialism and one-party control to a market economy and unrestricted freedom of the press and assembly. |
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⚫ | Guyana achieved independence on May 26, 1966, and became a republic on February 23, 1970--the anniversary of the Cuffy slave rebellion. From December 1964 until his death in August 1985, Forbes Burnham ruled Guyana in an increasingly autocratic manner, first as Prime Minister and later, after the adoption of a new constitution in 1980, as Executive President. During that time- frame, elections were viewed in Guyana and abroad as fraudulent. Human rights and civil liberties were suppressed, and two major political assassinations occurred: the Jesuit Priest and journalist Bernard Darke in July 1979, and the distinguished historian and WPA Party leader [[Walter Rodney]] in June 1980. Agents of President Burnham are widely believed to have been responsible for both deaths. |
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⚫ | When President Jagan died in March 1997, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds replaced him in accordance with constitutional provisions. President Jagan's widow, Janet Jagan, was elected |
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⚫ | Following Burnham's own death in 1985, Prime Minister Hugh Desmond Hoyte acceded to the presidency and was formally elected in the December 1985 national elections. Hoyte gradually reversed Burnham's policies, moving from state socialism and one-party control to a market economy and unrestricted freedom of the press and assembly. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Guyana to lobby for the resumption of free elections, and on October 5, 1992, a new National Assembly and regional councils were elected in the first Guyanese election since 1964 to be internationally recognized as free and fair. Cheddi Jagan was elected and sworn in as President on October 9, 1992. |
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⚫ | When President Jagan died in March 1997, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds replaced him in accordance with constitutional provisions. President Jagan's widow, Janet Jagan, was elected President in December 1997. She resigned in August 1999 due to ill health and was succeeded by Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo, who had been named prime minister a day earlier. National elections were held on March 19, 2001. Incumbent President Jagdeo won reelection with a voter turnout of over 90%. |
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:''See also :'' [[Guyana]] |
:''See also :'' [[Guyana]] |
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==External Link== |
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*[http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=American_Institute_for_Free_Labor_Development Disinfopedia article on AIFLD] |
Revision as of 06:12, 4 June 2004
Before the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited by both Carib and Arawak tribes, who named it Guiana, which means land of many waters. The Dutch settled in Guyana in the late 16th century, but their control ended when the British became the de facto rulers in 1796. The colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice were officially ceded to the United Kingdom in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 and at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In 1831 they were consolidated as British Guiana. Following the abolition of slavery in 1834, thousands of indentured laborers were brought to Guyana to replace the slaves on the sugarcane plantations, primarily from India but also from Portugal and China. The British stopped the practice in 1917. Many of the Afro-Guyanese former slaves moved to the towns and became the majority urban population, whereas the Indo-Guyanese remained predominantly rural. A scheme in 1862 to bring black workers from the United States was unsuccessful. The small Amerindian population lives in the country's interior.
The people drawn from these diverse origins have coexisted peacefully for the most part. Slave revolts, such as the one in 1763 led by Guyana's national hero, Cuffy, demonstrated the desire for basic rights but also a willingness to compromise. Racial disturbances between Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese erupted in 1962-64, due in large part to external intervention. However, the basically conservative and cooperative nature of Guyanese society contributed to a cooling of racial tensions.
Guyanese politics, nevertheless, occasionally has been turbulent. The first modern political party in Guyana was the People's Progressive Party (PPP), established on January 1, 1950, with Forbes Burnham, a British-educated Afro-Guyanese, as chairman; Dr. Cheddi Jagan, a U.S.-educated Indo-Guyanese, as second vice chairman; and his American-born wife, Janet Jagan, as secretary general. The PPP won 18 out of 24 seats in the first popular elections permitted by the colonial government in 1953, and Dr. Jagan became leader of the house and minister of agriculture in the colonial government. However, Jagan's Marxist views caused concern in Washington. On October 9, 1953, five months after his election, the British suspended the constitution and landed troops because, they said, the Jagans and the PPP were planning to make Guyana a communist state. These events led to a manipulated split in the PPP, in which Burnham broke away and founded what eventually became the People's National Congress (PNC). Colonial interests, which hoped to thwart the Guyanese independence movement, instigated conflict between Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese; the PPP, which was a multi-ethnic, nationalist party, was depicted as a vehicle for the majority Indo-Guyanese population, and the PNC posed as an alternative for Afro-Guyanese.
Elections were permitted again in 1957 and 1961, and Cheddi Jagan's PPP ticket won on both occasions, with 48% of the vote in 1957 and 43% in 1961. Cheddi Jagan became the first premier of British Guiana, a position he held for 7 years. At a constitutional conference in London in 1963, the U.K. Government agreed to grant independence to the colony but only after another election in which proportional representation would be introduced for the first time. It was widely believed that this system would reduce the number of seats won by the PPP and prevent it from obtaining a clear majority in Parliament.
From the latter part of 1963, through the early part of 1964, came the period euphemistically called "The Disturbances" by the British. The governments of The U.K. and the U.S.A. joined forces to destabilize the Guyanese political landscape, with the U.S. providing intelligence and infiltration (through the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)), while the British brought in brute force. AIFLD operatives instigated a 90 day strike of primarily urban and Afro-Guyanese unions, which brought the nation's economy to a halt; the strike was also the occasion for outbreaks of racial violence, as it was used to pit the predominately Indo-Guyanese government against the predominately Afro-Guyanese service unions. The British alternately moved to crush the altercations, or to simply allow them to run their course. During this period, PPP leaders such as Jagan, Brindley Benn, and the man who came to be regarded as Guyana's poet laureate, Martin Carter, were frequently imprisoned and harassed by the British.
The "Disturbances" provided the occasion for driving the PPP from Power. The December 1964 elections gave the PPP 46%, the PNC 41%, and the United Force (UF), a conservative party, 12%. It was widely rumored that the U.S. provided funding for the UF, in exchange for its cooperation: UF threw its votes in the legislature to the PNC's Forbes Burnham, who became Prime Minister.
Guyana achieved independence on May 26, 1966, and became a republic on February 23, 1970--the anniversary of the Cuffy slave rebellion. From December 1964 until his death in August 1985, Forbes Burnham ruled Guyana in an increasingly autocratic manner, first as Prime Minister and later, after the adoption of a new constitution in 1980, as Executive President. During that time- frame, elections were viewed in Guyana and abroad as fraudulent. Human rights and civil liberties were suppressed, and two major political assassinations occurred: the Jesuit Priest and journalist Bernard Darke in July 1979, and the distinguished historian and WPA Party leader Walter Rodney in June 1980. Agents of President Burnham are widely believed to have been responsible for both deaths.
Following Burnham's own death in 1985, Prime Minister Hugh Desmond Hoyte acceded to the presidency and was formally elected in the December 1985 national elections. Hoyte gradually reversed Burnham's policies, moving from state socialism and one-party control to a market economy and unrestricted freedom of the press and assembly. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Guyana to lobby for the resumption of free elections, and on October 5, 1992, a new National Assembly and regional councils were elected in the first Guyanese election since 1964 to be internationally recognized as free and fair. Cheddi Jagan was elected and sworn in as President on October 9, 1992.
When President Jagan died in March 1997, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds replaced him in accordance with constitutional provisions. President Jagan's widow, Janet Jagan, was elected President in December 1997. She resigned in August 1999 due to ill health and was succeeded by Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo, who had been named prime minister a day earlier. National elections were held on March 19, 2001. Incumbent President Jagdeo won reelection with a voter turnout of over 90%.
- See also : Guyana