Remembering Cheddi Jagan
Caricom Leaders Hail Jagan as a Regionalist
Caricom leaders last week (March 1997) recognized the late President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, as a true regionalist and unrelenting fighter. Jagan died at the Walter Reed Medical Centre in Washington, D.C., on the morning of March 6, three weeks after suffering a heart attack in Georgetown.
Dominica's Prime Minister, Edison James, said Jagan was truly committed to the regional integration movement. "All of us as Caricom heads will remember one of the major contributions that Jagan continued to make, and that was to urge all of us as to the need for a Regional Development Fund, later named the Regional Integration Fund -- something which Jagan saw as a crucial and indispensable tool in taking this region to a higher level of development," James said.
"He was deeply concerned about where we were going and the extent to which this region as he saw it was being put in a situation where its trade was being affected and its ability to develop itself was being affected," James added.
Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington, described Jagan as a visionary whose work and struggle for the region's social and economic development will live on. There was no problem was too large for him to tackle, and no issue too small for him to pay attention to, he noted.
"We have lost one of our most visionary leaders, one of our most determined fighters for Caribbean development -- a man who was not afraid to come to grips with the peculiar problems of the region and to forge ideas and approaches which respond to these peculiarities," Carrington said.
"We may well find that in death, he would achieve what he may not have achieved in life -- that is, in reflection, the proposals which he have put forward in a number of community and regional life may well be those which will guide us in the immediate future," he said.
Grenada's Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, said President Jagan had led a strong fight to unite the region and was a champion of the working class. "He showed genuine love for all Caribbean people and was a champion for the working class in the country and has been consistently so throughout his entire life," Mitchell said. "I don't think there is any politician that has shown that longevity in terms of standing for principles, despite the difficulties which he had to face in Guyana in the '70s and the '60s and so on.
"I think he played an immense role in the struggle in the '60s and '70s in the Third World context when he stood firmly in the position on South Africa and Black people of South Africa," Mitchell said.
In Bridgetown, Barbados' Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, reflected on Jagan's life and achievements, saying it was a privilege for him to work with such a crusader for sovereignty and champion of Third World solidarity and development. Said Arthur: "It is with great sadness, that on behalf of the government and people of Barbados, I join the world in expressing deepest sympathy to the government and people of Guyana, and the family of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan, the former President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on the occasion of his passing .
"Few of us have the privilege to work and be associated with historical figures of another era, but such has been the case with those of my generation, who as Caribbean leaders in the nineties, have been blessed with the opportunity to work with Dr. Jagan in recent years as he pressed on with his mission to forge a lasting Caribbean unity.''
In Kingston, Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson described Jagan as "a towering figure in Caribbean politics".
Said Patterson: "His political tenacity and intellectual contribution to the dialectics of our time can never be questioned."
He added: "Dr. Jagan was a towering figure in Caribbean politics whose remarkable career began in the fight against colonial oppression, and ended in his efforts as Head of State and government to achieve the full development of his people and the abundant resources of his sovereign country.
"His long and dedicated service will leave an indelible stamp on Guyana and in time the entire Caribbean and the developing world as a whole.''
And Parliamentarians in St. Vincent and the Grenadines paid tribute to Jagan during the first sitting of the House of Assembly for this year. Jagan was described as a pragmatist, a regional legend, and a leader who fought for ethnic unity in his homeland.
"Cheddi Jagan, perhaps, beyond all politicians in this region demonstrated the fortitude exceeded by none," said Prime Minister, Sir James Mitchell who led off the tribute last week. "I do not know who else would have languished so long with so much adversity and still stay the course," he said.
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Basdeo Panday, last week described the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan as a saint, saying this "may well have militated against his politics." He added: "Cheddi was the most kind, the most generous person that I have ever known." And while one might not have agreed with Jagan, Panday said the late Guyanese leader was very clear in his vision for his society, and was prepared to stick to it and give his life for it. Panday noted he and Jagan had a long association, and recalled they were both trade union leaders and addressed conferences at each other's unions.
They were also two of the longest-serving Opposition leaders in the Caribbean; and then eventually became leaders of their countries.
Panday said he expected the transition in Guyana would be smooth in the wake of Jagan's death.
"I have no doubt. You see the people of Guyana, unfortunately, have suffered great trauma in the past, where they had these racial conflicts, and I think that has resulted in greater maturity in the society, and that the people of Guyana would not want to return to that kind of conflict and trauma," he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Ralph Maraj was stronger in his comments.
He blamed past Caricom leaders and governments, including Trinidad and Tobago's, for denying Guyana the "enlightened leadership" of Jagan. "(Guyanese) were denied this through the dictatorship of Forbes Burnham, and in my view it is indeed very, very sad that when under Jagan's leadership in such a short space of time the country is once more on a growth path, the people of Guyana are now denied his leadership for always."
Maraj went on to accuse former Caricom leaders and governments of "consorting, supporting and mollycoddling" the late Burnham. "Had the leaders of the past objected to Burnham's usurpation of Guyana's democracy in a committed and vigorous a manner as we opposed the dictatorship in Haiti, Burnham would not have lasted so long, and the people of Guyana may have had the benefit of a longer period of Cheddi Jagan's enlightened leadership. Our inability and unwillingness to deal with Burnham remains a blot on the history of Caricom," he said.
Maraj said Jagan was an intellectual giant and an unrelenting fighter for economic and social justice.
President-Elect, A.N.R. Robinson described Jagan as one of the most remarkable politicians in the region.
"His outstanding qualities were his warmth, his generosity of spirit, his tenacity of purpose, and his consuming passion to improve the lot of the poor and the powerless."
Opposition Leader Patrick Manning, who remembered receiving Jagan's autograph at 12 years of age, said his place in history was assured. His death marked the end of an era, Manning said.
Dr. Brinsley Samaroo, UWI Senior Lecturer in History, and a former government minister said Jagan had inspired a "whole generation of Caribbean people through his clear writing."