----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Rick Page <rfpage2008 at yahoo.com> To: rfpage2008 at yahoo.com Sent: Fri, September 3, 2010 1:24:36 PM Subject: Guyana’s Post-Colonial Plight -- In These Times
Thought you might be interested in this article from In These Times. Honey, I think this should be posted to your class.
--------------------- Guyana’s Post-Colonial Plight Still beset by ethnic divisions 45 years after independence from Britain, the countrys labor movement is now offering bold leadership, according to scholar Perry Mars By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Most Americans are unfamiliar with Guyana and its politics, despite the fact that the United States has been influencing events in the small South American nation for decades. Over the past half-century, both the United States and Britain repeatedly intervened in order to frustrate independence and anti-imperialist political movements, including undermining Cheddi Jagan and his Marxist-oriented Peoples Progressive Party (PPP). In recent years, Guyanese politics have become increasingly polarized and intertwined with ethnic divisions, with the countrys African-origin and East Indian-origin peoples at odds. Today, those differences are manifested in the two major political parties, with the PPP largely Indo-Guyanese-based and the Peoples National Congress (PNC) largely Afro-Guyanese-based. But the ethnic differences also permeate other aspects of Guyana. After Guyanese bauxite workers went on strike in November 2009 following failed negotiations over wage increases, I decided to give Professor Perry Mars a call to understand the conflicts origins. (The conflict, between the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union, remains unresolved.) In the course of our discussion, it became clear that the politics of the strike were directly related to Guyanas struggle for independence from Britain and the post-colonial political environment. It also became clear that the masses never come out on top when political differences are expressed through ethnic strife.
Click here for the full article: http://www.inthesetimes.com/main/article/6309/guyanas_post-colonial_plight/ --------------------- If you like this story, get more great articles and subscribe to In These Times magazine at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/subscribe