RUPERT Roopnaraine died at the wrong time. He did not live to see what Trinidad’s Prime Minister negatively said about Cuba. Rupert, intimately involved with the Grenadian revolutionary government, detested what Dominica’s Prime Minister and Barbados’ Prime Minister had to say about the Grenadian Revolution and her support for the American invasion of Grenada.

I would have liked to read what Rupert thought about what Kamla Bissesar, the Prime Minister of Trinidad, had to say about Cuba’s lack of democracy. The “Trini” PM reminds me of Ms. Charles. She was an ideological believer in Western-style democracy and was incapable of understanding why revolutions come about.

She was against the revolution in Grenada in 1979 and she accepted the American invasion of 1983. At the time, Barbados’ Prime Minister Tom Adams condemned the revolution and also supported the invasion. Both Charles and Adams were post-colonial leaders who, at the ideological level, were politicians who were intellectually incapable of understanding what colonialism had done to the psyche of the colonial subject.

Here is a quote from the current Chancellor of the University of Guyana and prominent Caribbean diplomat, Sir Ron Sanders: The quote is offered within the context of Caribbean leaders both past and present who still think that our big, rich, traditional Western allies are generous countries: “The 14-nation independent states of the Caribbean Community have been at the bottom of US official development assistance for decades. In 2019, for instance, total US foreign assistance globally was US$47 billion, of which collectively, CARICOM countries received US$338 million or 0.7 percent. For emphasis, that is less than one per cent of the global total. Haiti alone received US$268 million of that US$338 million intended for all 14 CARICOM states, leaving the other 13 to share US$70 million only. For 9 of the 13 countries, the sum provided did not amount to US$1 million.”

The intra-CARICOM quarrel over both the revolution and invasion still constitutes the deadliest disagreement among CARICOM Heads that almost weakened the integration movement. It was a moment when Guyana became the most anti-imperialist nation in the Caribbean. President Burnham was the largest voice in CARICOM, both in support of the Grenadian Revolution and rejection of the American invasion of Grenada.

How uncanny we could be writing about the Grenadian Revolution and Burnham’s support for it at a time when Rupert has just died. There is a page in Rupert’s book, “The Sky’s Wild Noise,” in which President Burnham complained to Prime Minister Maurice Bishop about his embrace of the WPA when he, Burnham, had given tangible support to the Grenadian Revolution.

I worked at a sensitive level with the Grenadian Government and had access to information which showed me how helpful Burnham was to the revolutionary New Jewel Movement in Grenada. There is something about Burnham that has not been made public up to this day.

This column here is the first time it will be made public.  President Burnham had sent a contingent of GDF officers to train soldiers of the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua. The contingent was headed by a lieutenant who is in his 70s today and lives in Guyana. He worked for the APNU+AFC government. He has declined to be interviewed about his life on the Freddie Kissoon Show. I know him and I say without even an ounce of contradiction that he is a pleasant, modest, nice gentleman.

So, can we anticipate what Rupert would have said about the “Trini” PM’s condemnation of Cuba?  Two reflections he would have made. He would have cited Cuba’s phenomenal anti-imperialist record and its huge liberating impact on Africa and the Caribbean. Cuba’s anti-imperialist balance sheet is extraordinary. This was a small island in the Caribbean with 10 million people and it sent its troops thousands of miles to Africa to confront and defeat the imperialist domination of Africa and to weaken apartheid in South Africa.

Secondly, Rupert probably would have asked Mrs Bissessar if Cuba does not have democracy and can’t be offered protection by CARICOM, then why Trinidad has ongoing relationships with countries that not only colonised the West Indies, but also offer formal independence, but still colonise us and whose imperialist genetics roam all over the world.

Syria, Libya and Iraq are all living tragic lives made so by the former colonial empires that are still clinging to their empires. I end by bringing attention to readers what a former Opposition Leader in the UK, Jeremy Corbin reflected on. He said former imperial powers are continuing their quest for global dominance. That dominance was curtailed in certain parts of Africa by the anti-imperialist bravery of Cuba. Cuba should have a special place in the heart of each Caribbean citizen. For me, it has.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.