WHEN I read that former PPP and WPA stalwart was about to publish his autobiography, I wrote in my column of Monday, March 9, 2026, titled, “There will be missing links in Bhagwan’s autobiography,” the following: “I am 100 percent certain Moses will leave out an ocean of episodes, events, incidents, upheavals, esoteric moments and disturbing occurrences from the time the WPA was born until he left the WPA to migrate.
Two reasons explain this. First, the book is the work of Alissa Trotz and Nigel Westmaas. These are two of the most unapologetic custodians of the Mulatto/Creole culture, and two of the most dyed- in- the wool devotees of the WPA; not the WPA in the 20th century, not the WPA then and now but simply the WPA, period!”
Let’s see if I am right. The bibliography of Bhagwan’s book consists of publications right up to 2025. But a book that came out since 2011 is missing from Bhagwan’s bibliography.
If Bhagwan or Trotz or Westmaas had used the publication it would have embarrassed both Roopnaraine (deceased) and surviving members of the WPA leadership from the 70s. The book is: “Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge” by John Gimlette.
This is the only book to date that refers to the WPA’s violent plan to overthrow the Forbes Burnham regime as described to Gimlette by Rupert Roopnaraine. I quote from Roopnaraine on page 45: “Well, I wanted an armed insurrection. What a f….up. We’d been stockpiling timers, explosives, and arms right here in the room upstairs (Cara Lodge). I thought the army would come out and join us, but Cheddi disagreed and argued – on Leninist principles- that without the army the coup would fail.”
Here now are the words of Bhagwan in his memoir “Enter the Political Kingdom” on page 312: “The question is: Did the WPA plan an insurrection? The answer is, there was consideration being whether taking the rebellion to a higher level – an evolutionary overthrow of the regime – was a viable option. It would be a leap to suggest that this in itself constitutes a plan.”
It is splitting hairs to say that you are piling up arms to overthrow the government and that in itself is not a plan.
If you are intent on removing a government and you accumulate arms for that purpose, how is that not a plan? It seems Bhagwan has a weird definition of what plan means – things written down on a piece of paper.
Let’s quote Bhagwan on Roopnaraine himself. Bhagwan is citing what Roopnaraine noted in the book, “Walter Rodney: A Promise of Revolution” by Clairmont Chung: “We were accumulating weapons. We were accumulating equipment of various kinds.”
Bhagwan then gives his interpretation of what Roopnaraine meant. I quote Bhagwan again: “Rupert’s statement can be interpreted to mean that the acquisition of arms was a contingent measure….”
Either Bhagwan, Trotz and Westmaas are politically dishonest or are in denial that the WPA was involved in the attempt to overthrow the Burnham government. It is clear in the Gimlette book that Roopnaraine said he wanted an insurrection. Here are Roopnaraine’s words in Chung’s book: “We were attempting to equip ourselves, essentially ready ourselves …for an insurrectionary attack on the state.”
Readers must ask themselves why Bhagwan chose to use Chung’s book in his bibliography and not Gimlette’s. The answer is like what the older folks used to say when I was a toddler – easy like kissing the palm of your hand. Trotz, Westmaas and Bhagwan did not use Gimlette’s book because they do not want people to read about Roopnaraine’s behaviour.
Apparently, when Gimlette was interviewing Roopnaraine at Cara Lodge, owned by Roopnaraine’s common-law wife, Joycelyn Dow, Roopnaraine was tipsy and just opened up. Gimlette noted: “We ordered tumblers of rum.”
Roopnaraine told Gimlette that the device Walter Rodney got from Gregory Smith was actually from him, Rupert and it was simply a communication device not a bomb.
Now confusion arises here. Who gave Rodney the device? The answer is Smith but how did Smith get it if in the first place if it was Roopnaraine’s? In Chung’s book, Roopnaraine said on page 118: “I never met Gregory Smith, at all, never met him.”
One of the mysteries in the now defunct WPA as we know it from the 1970s was that it was penetrated by infiltrators. Here is Roopnaraine again in Chung on page 113: “Burnham had penetrated so much of the WPA which they knew and it was a very dangerous game we were playing.” Will Guyanese ever know who the spies in the WPA were? I do.
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.
