(QUOTE) ‘And history will remember Cheddi Jagan as a world leader; who struggled for social progress among the dispossessed and the disadvantaged; who vigorously implanted progressive political thought; who was a resolute builder of political movements; who forged the political-labour nexus; who was an unwavering Caribbean integrationist; who was a true internationalist in his unrelenting promulgation of the New Global Human Order (NGHO); and whose authentic local legacy has to be his tireless fight for national unity, working-class unity, and racial unity.’

IN recent times, we see the initiation of weak attempts at discrediting the work of former President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan; namely, that he was stuck within Marxism, a faulty ideology that heaped all of its ‘nastiness’ upon Guyana. In fact, the critics proclaimed that Jagan’s faulty ideology negatively impacted his political modus operandi, particularly corruption, the fallout with the U.S., and the lack of national unity.
The correlation between Marxism/communism and corruption is spurious, as corruption could happen amid any political/economic ideology at work. Nigeria, certainly not a communist country, was the third most corrupt country out of 102 countries in 2006, according to Transparency International.
Then there is the United States of America, certainly not a communist country; in November 2010, the U.S. House Ethics Committee found Rep. Charles Rangel guilty on 11 ethics violations; in March 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously impeached Federal Judge for Eastern Louisiana G. Thomas Porteous for corruption and perjury. There are numerous other examples to show that political and economic ideology has little or no correlation with corruption. Therefore, Jagan’s ideology bears little relationship to whatever alleged corruption might have occurred during his tenure.
There also are some critics who believe that Jagan’s Marxism contributed to the decline of Guyana, especially, as it led to a fallout with the mighty U.S. Jagan became problematic to the West not so much because of his embrace of the Marxist ideology, but more so because he espoused a neutralist position on the Cold War, and thereby did not side with the U.S. (Rabe 2005).
Then there is the other criticism without foundational basis that Jagan and the PPP faltered on the development of national unity. Cheddi Jagan pointed to the utility value of cultural differentiation in the pursuit of national unity. He noted that race was never a serious problem in Guyana. He believed that the problem was one of class. The early division of labour produced and reproduced racial antagonism and cultural loss to divide and exploit the working class. The 1928-53 period, struck a blow to Guyanese unity through the British divide-and-rule techniques, with accompanying racial alignments and divisions.
Clearly, these descriptions of the facts were acrimonious to promoting cultural identity, acrimony not primordial to Indians and Africans but constructed and manipulated by politicians. Here, too, Jagan struggled for the political institutionalisation of each ethnic group’s culture with the view that it will dissipate the emotive language of race and race conflict and contribute to national unity. Jagan really advanced the case for apportioning political space to all cultures in the drive toward national unity. Clearly, he expressed his vision for developing a cultural mosaic in this multiethnic society.
Today, being March 6, marking 14years® since the nation took Cheddi Jagan on his journey to Babu John, is a sacrosanct reminder to all Guyanese to intellectually immerse themselves with his political and economic philosophy for societal-wide dissemination and practice.
And history will remember Cheddi Jagan as a world leader; who struggled for social progress among the dispossessed and the disadvantaged; who vigorously implanted progressive political thought; who was a resolute builder of political movements; who forged the political-labour nexus; who was an unwavering Caribbean integrationist; who was a true internationalist in his unrelenting promulgation of the New Global Human Order (NGHO); and whose authentic local legacy has to be his tireless fight for national unity, working-class unity, and racial unity.
His ideas and his indefatigable promotion of these ideas have not only redefined the Caribbean, but have impacted the world of the poor. These writings and his grassroots work have a superlative nexus with current philosophical debates, particularly in the philosophy of history and the social and behavioural sciences coupled with moral and political philosophy.
This understanding of history sees economic, social, and political influences of human life as the most important factors shaping human experience, personality, ideas, and social arrangements.
And it is through this understanding of history that he was able to construct a proactive and empowering vision for this country. Today as I attempt to pen a few words on Dr. Jagan’s achievements what really stares you in the face through his many writings is his profound sense of vision.
Dr. Jagan had this vision since about 1945, that colonialism, in order to be successful, had to subordinate to its interests, the critical institutions and processes of the colonized society. For this reason, the former President evolved as a tenacious fighter for Independence; and he is among the first few, if not the first, to have kicked off this struggle against colonial domination.
This novel idea of Independence emerged in 1945 in a Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s pamphlet titled COOPERATIVE WAY. Dr. Jagan said: “It therefore behooves the working class people to get control of government through their constitutional ballots in our forthcoming election, with a view towards complete independence. A free and independent Guiana can easily cooperate and eventually federate with her Latin neighbours, especially Brazil.”
We see his active vision at work, too, on April 3, 1962 during his Budget Speech; Dr. Jagan spoke about the dynamics of globalisation, even though he did not use the actual term. He said: “The fact is that we are living today in a world which has become closely knit together. We are not living in the days when communications were difficult, when countries were more or less economically content. We are living today when international trusts, combines and cartels are devouring the world; the big giants are swallowing up the little giants, the sharks eating up the sardines.”
He warned then of the dangers of globalisation, echoing the West’s domineering stand in relation to the developing world; and within the same sentiments as former Indian Prime Minister Dr. Gujral would later aptly say: “My globalisation is good for you but yours is not good for me.”
But Dr. Jagan’s vision shows his mastery at work in countering this inhuman globalisation as far back as 1945, and making the case for the NGHO. The NGHO would empower people, so that they would not be cowed down by the dynamics of a callous globalisation; the people would be in the forefront applying the tools of internationalism to their advantage, creating a niche for themselves in this global economy. The NGHO through its principle of humanity represents a remarkable vision for bringing people together not only for Guyana but for all countries.
For these reasons, there is no question that former President Dr. Jagan’s authentic legacy has to be his vision and tireless fight for national unity, working-class unity, and racial unity.
® March 6, 2014 marks the 17th year of Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s death.
(Previously published in the Guyana Chronicle in 2011)
BY Dr. PREM MISIR