Remembering Cheddi Jagan

 

CHEDDI JAGAN'S IDEAS WILL LIVE ON
by Odeen Ishmael

Six years ago, all of Guyana followed very closely the news reports of President Cheddi Jagan’s final days as he waged his final valiant battle at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. I recall those eventful days following his heart attack on February 14, 1997 when all of us hoped, despite the physical odds, that he would pull through. That was not to be, and twenty-one days later, in the early cold morning hours of March 6, Cheddi Jagan slipped away into the arms of history.

During those final three weeks, I spent much of my time at the Walter Reed hospital and got to know Dr. Jagan's attending physicians very well. As his physical strength waned, they could not help admiring the fighting qualities of our legendary leader - qualities that his political friends and foes alike can attest to. I can well recall that after March 4 when all hope had faded, he still refused to buckle under, which caused one of the medical specialists to say to me: "President Jagan is defying the laws of medical science." Looking back at those final days, I can say that he died as he lived - fighting all the way to the end.

It was the nature of the man. During those final days, his wife and life partner, Mrs. Janet Jagan, told me of an incident that gave a vivid illustration of his sense of dedication and determination. In the early 1960s when he was Premier, the two of them were spending a short vacation in Trinidad at a house on the bank of a river. The owner of the house gave them a boat outfitted with a little outboard engine if ever they wished to explore the river. One day they finally used the boat but somehow ended up in the stormy ocean. Then the engine stopped. Dr. Jagan tugged at the starting cord, but it would not restart. By this time, high waves were driving them toward huge outcrops of rocks near to shore, and while Mrs. Jagan was in a panic and fearing for their lives, he patiently and seemingly without any sign of worry, calmly continued trying to restart the engine. The little boat was almost about to be smashed on the rocks when the engine finally burst into life. He had tried more than thirty times, but finally got it working, and they were able to escape danger in the nick of time. Such was the determination of Cheddi Jagan - a quality which he displayed throughout, even up to the day he died.

Even from his early days as a politician he displayed this fierce, determined spirit. Some years ago an elderly Enmore gentleman told me that during the 1948 sugar strike, the expatriate owners of Enmore estate instructed the police to arrest Cheddi Jagan if he should ever "set foot" on their property. Of course this threat did not deter the Guyanese leader; he turned up on the public road, placed a small wooden crate on the roadside, and addressed the striking workers. The police could not arrest him for "trespassing" because he had not "set foot" on the estate’s private property!

It was Cheddi Jagan who started the fight for the political independence of the colonial territories in the Caribbean. From the time he climbed into the political arena in 1946 he listed independence for Guyana on his political agenda. He was the flame that lit the torch of freedom and democracy in Guyana. It must not be forgotten that it was his party that won universal adult suffrage for the Guyanese people, which gave them the right to vote to elect a government of their choice. His epic struggle against the might of the British Empire is legendary and he was glorified by anti-colonialists and freedom fighters all over the world.

His political struggle, based on his socialist principles, was inextricably linked with his struggle to improve the social and economic conditions of the Guyanese people. During the 1957-64 period when he led the PPP Governments, effective land distribution programmes boosted agricultural production and a massive education drive was put into effect. It was through his initiative, despite some strong opposition from those who felt that university education should not be within the reach of all Guyanese, the University of Guyana was established in 1963.

Dr. Jagan led his party to election victories in 1953, 1957 and 1961 and won the highest number of votes in 1964. The undemocratic machinations which led to his removal from the Government in 1964 have been revealed by US State Department documents from the Kennedy era, released by the United States Government in 1996. Those who were saying that Dr. Jagan was making unfounded allegations that he was removed by overt and covert action, local and international, now only have to read these documents to see how always right he was.

It is unfortunate that Dr. Jagan had to spend 28 years of his life fighting for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. Imagine the heights Guyana would have achieved if his innovative talents, ideas and leadership were applied to Guyana, if democracy were allowed to flourish unbound during all those years!

After those 28 years of struggle for democracy, Dr. Jagan won the Presidency in October 1992. But he did not simply sit back and bask in his glorious victory, for it was not for himself that he fought. It was for Guyana. Among his many successes he achieved while in office for just four short years was to assure the children of Guyana a better future than the generation before them. In 1992 he came to power in a country whose schools and health centres, like so many other institutions, were in a state of utter disrepair. This was not the environment this President wished his young people to grow up in, and so a massive social rehabilitation program began.

In his four years as President, many achievements were recorded. These included a massive water rehabilitation program and doubling the electricity output of the country from 1992 and the significant improvement in agricultural production. Amerindian villages which were totally neglected by our previous administrations were provided with brand-new schools and health centres.

Throughout Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo many villages, including those with residents generally not supporters of Dr. Jagan’s political party, were provided with roads, new water systems, new schools and new health centres. Dr. Jagan made sure these were provided to guarantee the well being of the young. He showed his care for all the people of Guyana by ensuring that they have these amenities in all areas regardless of their political leanings or ethnic makeup of the people who live there. And this all was done as Guyana was enjoying one of the highest economic growth rates in all of the Western Hemisphere.

He certainly laid the foundations of a society free from political oppression and fear. The policies he implemented also gave momentum to the economic recovery program and social sector initiatives to assist the poor. No wonder President Clinton in paying tribute, described President Jagan as "a champion of the poor."

In his short term in office, Dr. Jagan proved to both his political supporters and opponents that it was not politics which he fought for. It was for the sake of all of the Guyanese people. And the Guyanese people showed that they understood this when they came out in unprecedented numbers to pay their respects to their fallen leader. It was a showing unheard of in our history, numbers never before seen in Guyana, some say reaching 100,000, at the cremation alone. They came from all races, religions and political leanings, from the farthest corners of Guyana, and they demonstrated that they knew that he was a man who genuinely loved and cared for all of them.

Dr. Jagan was a President who set the precedence for all future leaders of Guyana. By his actions, he showed that Presidents and other leaders should not be concerned with the ethnic makeup of the popular vote which elected them, but instead should be concerned with the common good of all the peoples of Guyana, regardless of ethnicity and political persuasion.

As all the political parties unanimously agreed when they paid tribute to him in Parliament, this legacy of Dr. Jagan and his dreams for national unity will be wasted if we do not follow his example.

Cheddi Jagan was also very much a statesman of world repute. He believed immensely in regional and hemispheric unity. He saw the necessity for helping the poorer countries of the hemisphere in order to ensure that they cope with the economic fallouts that will result with the advent of free trade. His idea of a Regional Integration Fund, which has been endorsed by countries of CARICOM, and which is now being discussed in the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, stands as a testimonial to this great intellectual, thinker, writer, statesman and visionary.

His campaign for debt relief for the poorer countries of the world is legendary and his proposal for a New Global Human Order to fight poverty is winning adherents in various parts of the world. Unselfishly, he thought of other peoples all over the world when he was waging the struggle for the Guyanese people. In recognition of his visionary thinking, the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 and 2002 approved successive resolutions supporting the role of the United Nations in promoting the New Global Human Order.

Cheddi Jagan will forever remain a legend in Caribbean history. There are many who never agreed with his political philosophy, but what can forever be said of him is that he stood up for what he believed in and never at any time surrendered his principles.

During the 19th century, the Scottish writer, Thomas Carlyle, wrote: "No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men." Cheddi Jagan was surely one of those great men who helped to reshape the history of the developing world in the twentieth century. His ideas will live on, and he will surely be remembered in all the corridors of history. Indeed, he stamped his footprint indelibly on the bedrock of time.

(The writer is Guyana's Ambassador to the United States of America and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States.)

23 February 2003

 

 

"We owe a great deal to the legacy of Dr. Cheddi Jagan"
(President Bharrat Jagdeo reflects on the life of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan)

 

Five years have passed since the untimely death of the greatest patriot that ever walked this land. How quickly time passes, yet how fresh are the memories of those pure in heart. The anniversary of Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s passing is more than an occasion for reflection on his life; it is a thanksgiving for someone who fathered the political struggle of our nation. He was a towering political giant who will be remembered as long as there are men and women who cherish freedom and justice.

Much has bee said and written about Cheddi Jagan, yet so much remains to be told about his epic political career spent in tireless struggle for the liberation of our people from the shackles of colonial bondage, and exploitation. I can only add my perspective to the discourse on his life and work.

I am now the President of Guyana and sit in the office that he once occupied after his historic victory at the elections in October 1992. It is an honour that fills me with humility. I will not attempt to be a Cheddi Jagan, even though there is enough inspiration to last a lifetime. I only seek to be faithful to the things he stood for, especially his selfless ness and unstinting dedication to the people of Guyana.

From a very young age, I was actively involved in the work of the People’s Progressive Party and thus was very familiar with the tireless efforts of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. When I returned from my studies abroad, I met regularly with him to discuss the ongoing economic crisis that our country was facing at the time. The crisis was deep and endemic, yet for him as then Leader of the Opposition it only strengthened his resolve to advance the interests of the working class who bore the brunt of the hardships.

He blended principled philosophical positions with pragmatism, ever prepared to analyse the problems and put forward specific remedies. I believe that his practical approach to issues rubbed off on me. I also learnt from him to be rigorous in my analysis and not to avoid the fine print. Dr. Jagan was always very scientific in his analysis. He was not given to sweeping generalizations or rigid dogmatism. He had a solid grasp of economic theory and made good use of statistics to support any position he adopted. Dr. Jagan was an empiricist and his command of theory and numbers made his arguments more compelling since they were well researched and supported by a wealth of sources.

When he assumed the Presidency of Guyana, I was assigned responsibilities at the Ministry of Finance and this often brought me in close contact with him. I worked very hard in those days, knowing fully well that we faced a formidable task to restore confidence in our country. Often I would meet with Dr. Jagan and we would have long exchanges over policy issues. It was clear that we shared many views on the general approach to the task of economic reconstruction.

The rapport between us was always frank, cordial and respectful and before long Dr. Jagan elevated me in 1993 to the position of Junior Minister of Finance. I was thrilled by the vote of confidence. Two years later, Dr. Jagan promoted be to Senior Minister of Finance, entrusting me with the responsibility for he management of his economic manifesto. I suppose in many ways there was little time for celebration since I was already an apostle of his, committed to working just as tirelessly to ensure that our plans were successful.

We had numerous problems at the time. There was huge foreign debt with over ninety per cent of revenues being utilized to service this overhand; the country’s infrastructure was in tatters; we had to fix our electricity generation system, and attend to a host of other matters. The fact also that people had very high expectations did not make it any easier.

It was Dr. Jagan’s wisdom that guided us in the formidable undertaking of providing a cohesive development strategy to address these socio-economic problems. We crafted a number of strategies in order to bring about transformation within the constraints we faced. One of the things that we immediately settled on was that adjustment was necessary but that this adjustment must have a human face. Cheddi Jagan was a great teacher of development who believed that this process must in inclusive: this is, it must involve all persons. We knew from our own experience that adjustment could be painful and we set out to humanize the process in order to improve the lot of the poor without hurting the rich.

We also took the conscious decision in our negotiations with the donor countries and agencies that some things would be non-negotiable. These were: (i) There would be no real decline in income of the workers; at the minimum growth in wages and salaries should compensate for inflation. (ii) The "list approach" to privatization would be banished. It was our view that there had to be better approach to the disposal of state assets than simply lining them up for sale. In this regard, we tabled in parliament a Privatisation Policy Framework Paper that outlined out our philosophy on this subject. (iii) It was fundamentally necessary for a paradigm shift in our expenditure priorities to one that favoured the social sectors. This is why today so much resources are pumped into education, housing and health. (iv) Revenue collection must be enhanced. (v) Debt relief must be relentlessly pursued in order to increase the resources to fix the many things that had to be attended to. (vi) The importance of human capital and attracting investment was enshrined among our priorities. In addition, strong emphasis was placed on reducing the housing deficit, resulting in government giving out thousands of house lots. (vii) Our democratic institutions must be strengthened; democracy must be institutionalized.

The success of our economic policies are now heralded internationally. We have demonstrated that as a government we were capable of transforming the lives of our people while ensuring fiscal discipline. For this, we owe a great deal to the legacy of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. It is now our task to continue on the road to progress despite the fact that we still face serious challenges in the international economic and political order.

Ten years ago, Dr. Cheddi Jagan placed his faith in me, then still a young man. He saw in me then, what I see in our young people today, hope and potential. I am therefore supremely confident that this journey I started ten years ago will continue and that we will surmount the difficulties that lie ahead as we take our country into a prosperous era.

 

 

Guyana’s World-class Leader Deserves Global Recognition says Washington-based Council On Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)

Guyana's President Cheddi Jagan, who had the political courage to resist the comprehensive free-market reforms so often vended by international lending agencies as the ticket to rapid development, stands in sharp contrast to those Latin American leaders who willingly embraced them as the essential passage to prosperity. Many of these figures arc now being accused of corruption, facing impeachment procedures or being forced to flee into exile. Unlike the tainted records of such major personalities as Vico-President Alberto Dahik of Ecuador, Mexico's ex-Prcsident Carlos Salinas de Gotari or Venezuela's Carlos Andres Perez, Jagan's flawless performance as an authentic democrat selfishly devoted to his country represents a towering ethical achievement for a hemisphere where scores of government officials are being escorted daily to prison cells for embezzling public funds or alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Jagan deserves to be praised for never dismissing his doubts about plunging head-first into harsh structural reforms as did many of his counterparts, indicating his deeply-felt reservations about whether debt-led growth alone would bring about the intended "trickle down" effect. Amidst a desert of Third World corruption, Jagan deserves to be recognized for what he is: a world-class leader of impeccable integrity who is indisputably motivated by genuine concern for the fate of his fellow citizens, rather than seeking fortuitous blips in popularity polls. Even more so than Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jagan has maintained his position as Latin America's most admired political leader and the one most attuned to the suffering of the bulk of his country's inhabitants.

From Jagan's perceptive the "conditions" on which assistance from international donor institutions are predicated severely restricts Guyana's ability to pursue its own vision of development. With the President's main objective being to free the country from its "vicious circle of poverty," he has a healthy skepticism towards structural adjustment policies that in the past have produced superficial economic growth at the expense of widening income disparities and further deteriorations in social welfare standards. Together, lending restrictions and the nation's total indebtedness of more than US$2 billion (which in 1995 accounted for 13% of GDP) understandably have left Jagan with little room to manoeuvre regarding the implementation of preferred development projects, unless he institutes extensive cuts in social spending, something he is loath to do.

Dissatisfaction on the part of international donor agencies regarding the pace at which fiscal and programmatic reforms arc being carried out by local authorities (particularly the privatization of the Guyana Electricity Corporation) led to a stalemate between the government and the IMF, and thus a delay in disbursing the second tranche of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) that was approved for the government's 1996 economic programme. To some extent, these differences have been resolved, but relations between the Jagan Administration and the IMF are still fragile; the President continues to find financial inflows to be insufficient to meet the country's needs, and also resents the restrictions imposed upon their use. Even Guyana's recent Paris Club victory of a US$500 million write off of its bilateral debt (although making the country more attractive to foreign investors and helping to restore its access to international capital markets), won't bring any immediate cash relief, as Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo has pointed out According to Gabriel Castillo, an economist at the Inter-American Development Bank "Guyana has consistently outperformed other Caribbean Group countries," in terms of its economic indicators.

At the same time, the Jagan Administration, in one of Latin America's poorest nations, "has allocated more (in absolute, real and relative terms) of the government's budget toward social spending on health, education and other social services" than was thought possible, outdoing both the Hoyte and Burnham administrations as well as several in neighbouring countries. In fact current statistics indicate that Guyana is witnessing progress on all fronts: economic, political, social and environmental. The 1996 Caribbean Economic Overview, which was distributed at the recent meeting at the Caribbean Group for Cooperation in Economic Development (CGCED) at the World Bank, reported that between 1992 and 1995, Guyana's real GDP grew by an average of 7% per year and inflation has remained at a level of about 12%. Clearly the IMF is somewhat satisfied (if begrudgingly) with these improvements, or it would not have allowed the disbursement of the second ESAF tranche.

Given mounting pressure from the international financial institutions, it is remarkable that Jagan adamantly refused to abandon his own tenaciously-held agenda for improving general living conditions for the majority of his country's population. The venerable President, incontestably Latin America's only serving true statesman, knows that there are no legitimate short-cuts to speeding up the development process if it is to be sound, and that in order to have constructive long-term effects, any growth strategy must specifically include the targeting of basic needs of the poor. The government now has undertaken the project of reorganizing the country's grossly inefficient Social Impact Amelioration Programme which is supposed to focus on job creation, in order to counter the adverse effects economic adjustment can have on the poor.

Compiled by Julie Dulude, Research Associate at the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs).

 

 

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