Rodney could cross racial boundaries but not...
the main personalities in the APNU regime is militaristic and therefore not democratic. This is a military government in civilian garb.
One of its first actions was to close the Rodney Inquiry before it concluded all its work. This government, with a penchant for commissions of inquiry, did not want this one. Indeed, they dreaded it. This put a nail in their talk about transparency.
State institutions are being used to harass the political opposition today. The Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) and the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) are being used as instruments of oppression and discrimination against some who are suspected of being supporters of the PPP/C.
Discrimination has once more raised its ugly head in our land. This, of course, is the outcome of a policy where undemocratic methods are being used to govern. The evidence of their undermining of democracy is seen everywhere. Just look at what is taking place in the Regions. Region Five is where the most brazen administrative methods are being used to frustrate the democratically elected officials.
Parliament is also being reduced to a rubber stamp. One of the characteristics of a democratically functioning Parliament is that it becomes a forum for debate and discussion of all national and critical issues. These features are absent from this Parliament.
The Speaker is worse than Sase Narine ever was under Burnham. Rodney would have been fighting against these things had he been alive today.
What is very tragic in today’s situation is that many of the persons who stood with Rodney, running around shouting ‘people’s power, no dictator’, are now killing his ideas and strangling the ideals he stood for. Many of the leaders of the Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA) are now supporting the new oppression that is being practised. If Rodney were to arrive in Guyana now, some of those he thought were his comrades would work to harass and silence him.
The difference between Rodney and some of his erstwhile colleagues is that Rodney was able to cross racial boundaries and advocate a multi-ethnic democracy with equal opportunity for all at its foundation. He demonstrated strong opposition to any form of discrimination. Some of those who are still around have shown their incapacity to cross racial lines, and they support the party that is responsible for the murder of Walter Rodney.
Only David Hinds of them all has made some feeble protests. However, he is a bundle of contradictions. Whenever he criticizes this regime he always qualifies it by explicitly stating that the PPP/C administration was worse. He states this without providing a shred of evidence to support his position. The main message he sends is that despite the hardship that people are facing, they must continue to support the regime. This is collaborating in the discrimination that is occurring every day in this country.
He too seems incapable of freeing his mind from the racial prison. His protests seem to be coming from a love for Rodney personally, but on the whole, he continues to stand aside and let our country slide back. He has lost his objectivity.
Those who pay lip service to Walter Rodney should use this anniversary to reexamine themselves and get back in the struggle for a democratic and non-racial Guyana. It would be good if they can do so, but I doubt it.
Yours faithfully, Donald Ramotar Former President