Forbes Burnham

In 1949, after returning from his studies in the United Kingdom, Burnham entered the private law chambers of Cameron and Shepherd[2] before setting up his own private law practice,[20] Clarke and Martin.[2] Also in 1949, Burnham became the leader of the British Guiana Labour Party (BGLP),[21] which had been formed in 1946. In the 1947 elections the Labour Party had won 5 of 14 seats in the Legislative Council, making them the largest party.[22]

Less than a year after his return from the United Kingdom, Burnham was one of the founders of the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was launched on 1 January 1950. The Indo-Guyanese labour leader Cheddi Jagan became Leader of the PPP, Jagan's wife Janet Jagan became the secretary and Burnham became the first party chairman. Jagan had been the leader of the Political Affairs Committee, which merged with the BGLP to form the PPP.[23] Burnham chose the name of the new party.[2]

In 1952, Burnham became the president of the party's affiliated trade union, the British Guiana Labour Union,[24] and was elected to Georgetown City Council in 1953.[20] In the 1953 British Guiana general election on 27 April 1953, the PPP won 18 of 24 seats in the first election with universal suffrage in Guyana, with both Burnham and his sister Jessie elected to the House of Assembly. In the short-lived PPP government that followed, Burnham served as Minister of Education.[24] Burnham initially threatened to split the party if he were not made sole leader of the PPP, but a compromise was reached by which Burnham and his allies in the party received ministerial appointments.[25] The newly formed government began to dissent against colonial rule, refusing to send a delegation to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, urging strike action and repealing several laws which the Colonial Office wanted in place. This dissent took place during the Red Scare, and British statesmen were worried about a possible communist revolution in Guyana; Winston Churchill remarked that "(W)e ought surely to get American support in doing all we can to break the Communist teeth in British Guiana … (P)erhaps they would even send Senator McCarthy down there."[26]

On 9 October 1953, the British administration suspended the Constitution of British Guiana and sent in armed troops after the PPP government passed the Labour Relations Act (modelled on the Wagner Act[26]) the day before, marking the end of the PPP government. Burnham and Jagan would travel to London to unsuccessfully protest the decision, where they were subject to secret surveillance by British intelligence services.[27] Following this, Burnham and Jagan travelled to India in an unsuccessful attempt to find support for their cause against the British.[28] The interim government appointed by the British would last until 1957.[29]

During the suspension of the constitution, the interim government gave Burnham fewer restrictions than other senior members of the party, he was not imprisoned while the other senior members were, and he was given tacit encouragement to begin a breakaway faction within the party, which he would do two years later.[26]

Burnham in 1962, serving as Mayor of Georgetown (fifth from left), in the presence of the Venezuelan mixed commission on Guayana Essequiba and advisors.

At a conference at the Metropole Cinema in Georgetown on 12–13 February 1955, the PPP split into two factions, one led by Burnham ("Burnhamite")[15] and the other by Jagan ("Jaganite").[15][30] Jagan supported a socialist domestic policy,[31][32] but Burnham's faction was more moderate.[8] The two also had personality differences.[33] After the 1957 election, where Jagan's faction won 9 seats and Burnham's won only 3, Burnham went on to form the People's National Congress[15] (PNC) in 1957,[3] becoming leader of the opposition.[2] The PNC entered its first election under that name in 1961.[34] Also in 1957, Burnham became President of the Guyana Bar Association, a position he would hold until 1964.[3] In 1959, Burnham was elected Mayor of Georgetown, a position he would hold until 1964[3] when he was re-elected[2] until 1966.[20] The United Democratic Party merged with the PNC in 1959.[35]

The political split deepened the racial division between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese.[36] Guyanese politics continues to largely follow racial lines, with PPP support mainly of a South Asian background and PNC support mostly of African descent.[37] This would follow the rural-urban divide as well, Afro-Guyanese tending to live in urban-coastal areas and Indo-Guyanese tending to live in rural-interior areas.[2] After the split, Jagan's PPP and Burnham's PNC largely became the political expressions of the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese aspirations respectively, and advocated for their supporter's interests.[38]

In the 1961 election, Burnham's PNC party won 11 seats in the Legislative Assembly with 41% of the vote. Despite only winning 1.64% more of the vote than the PNC, the PPP won 20 seats, nearly double the number of seats won by the PPP. This led to mass demonstrations, racial tensions and a general strike. The Governor declared a state of emergency and British troops were deployed.[15]

On 31 January 1962 the PPP government announced what would later be known as the "Kaldor Budget", advised by economist Nicholas Kaldor, including an increase in tax and import duty, which was opposed by opposition parties, who started taking action against the government, including mass demonstrations led by the PNC. According to the Wynn Parry Commission, on 12 February, Burnham gave the following speech: "Comrades, the fight starts now. Tomorrow at 2 o'clock in the afternoon there is a demonstration organized by the Trade Union Congress, a demonstration against the harsh proposals of the budget, which make life unbearable. No doubt the Riot Squad will be there. Do you still want to go? Comrades, remember that tomorrow Jagan's army is coming down from Cane Grove and Windsor Forest. Do you still want to go?"[39] the mass action would culminate 16 February 1962, later called "Black Friday". 56 businesses were destroyed, 87 damaged by fire and 66 were looted. One Police Superintendent was killed and 39 injured, while four looters were fatally shot and 41 injured. The rioters also attacked the Electricity Plant, the Water Works, Parliament, and Jagan's residence.[39] The riots were responded to by HMS Troubridge (R00) and HMS Wizard (R72). Black smoke covered Georgetown and a large fire was evident.[40]

According to declassified documents, in the early 1960s The United States Government led by John F. Kennedy became increasingly convinced that Jagan's PPP government had communist ideals. Due to the radical views of Cheddi Jagan (who leaned towards communism) and Jagan's alliances with the Soviet Union and Cuba, Burnham was supported by Western nations.[41] In May 1962 Kennedy held direct talks with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and Burnham visited Washington. Senior officials in the United States decided that Burnham's proposed socialism was preferable to Jagan's ideology, but also concluded that Jagan would become Head of Government of an independent Guyana without US intervention. Burnham readily agreed to US action against Jagan. In 1962, Kennedy approved intervention against Jagan's government. Independence was delayed by British officials, allowing time for a covert operation by the Central Intelligence Agency. Both Peter D'Aguiar (leader of the third largest party, The United Force) and Burnham pledged to support the notion of proportional representation (opposed by Jagan), and Burnham began to receive financial aid from the CIA.[42]

Burnham was appointed as President of the Guyana Labour Union in 1963.[3]

The CIA has been accused of assisting strike action against the PPP government beginning in 1963. This action would eventually turn to violence, with arson and bombing at government buildings. Burnham was mentioned in police reports.[42]

In 1963, further talks between President Kennedy and British Prime Minister Macmillan led to the British decision to impose a December 1964 election using proportional representation, after which British Guiana would be granted independence.The Americans received assurances from Burnham and D'Aguiar that they would mutually support each other in the election, and US money would be used for political campaigning. The lead-up to the election was marked by widespread violence, with nearly 200 murders and 2,600 families displaced.[42] A series of racially-motivated incidents took place in and around Linden, including the Wismar Massacre on 26 May, the sinking of the Sun Chapman on 6 July and the following murders of 5 Indo-Guyanese individuals at Mackenzie.[43] In one incident in August 1964, Jagan, Burnham, and d'Aguiar were conferring about reducing the spate of violence when the headquarters of the PPP were bombed just down the street.[42]

Just before the election, the CIA estimated that the PPP and PNC would take about 40 percent of the vote, United Force would take 15 percent, and the false-flag Justice Party (aimed at Indo-Guyanese voters and backed by the CIA), would take 5 percent.[42]

The PNC attained a majority government in the general elections of 1968 through electoral fraud, using an inflated "overseas vote" to skew the results in their favor.[49][15][50] The PNC won 93.7% of the 36,745 overseas ballots, allowing Burnham to claim an absolute majority. An independent review by the Opinion Research Center of London was only able to verify 15% of the entries on the overseas list.[2] An investigation looking into the identity of some of the voters found that two horses near Manchester, a closed butcher's shop in Brooklyn and a railway in London had been counted as registered voters, and there were many addresses where the reported voters had never been resident. Only just over 100 voters of 900 checked in the United Kingdom were genuine, and in New York only 40% were genuine. Peter D'Aguiar called it "a seizure of power by fraud, not an election."[51]

In 1968, a conference of 40,000 Amerindian people presented demands to Burnham, being dissatisfied with his afrocentrist policies.[11] The Agriculture Minister declared that the inhabitants' land ownership certifications would no longer be recognized and the zone would be occupied by the Afro-Guyanese population.[52] A provisional secessionist government was declared and attacks on Lethem began. The uprising was ultimately quelled by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).[53]

In 1969, following the establishment of Camp Tigri by Surinamese authorities, the Guyana Defense Force would take Camp Tigri and assert authority over the Tigri Area.[54] Guyana continues to hold the camp despite a 1970 agreement to withdraw military forces.[55]

Before 1970, Burnham mostly pursued moderate political policies.[8] In 1970, he veered sharply to the left and established relations with Cuba (8 December 1972)[56] and the Soviet Union (17 December 1970)[57] and a strong relationship with North Korea.[58] On 23 February of that year, he declared Guyana a "co-operative republic".[1] Adopting a policy of autarky, he banned all forms of imports into the country, including flour and varieties of rice that had been integral to the diet of Guyanese. Burnham also nationalised the major industries that were foreign-owned and -controlled.[1] By 1979 his policies had reduced the private sector's share in the economy to only 10%.[8] In declaring the Co-Operative republic, Burnham replaced the Head of State, removing the British monarch and installing Arthur Chung as the first president (in a mostly ceremonial role), though Guyana remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.[6]

On 18 June 1970 Burnham signed the Port of Spain Protocol with Venezuela. The protocol, in place for 12 years, promoted co-operation between the two countries on the Border Dispute in Guayana Esequiba.[59] The protocol was not renewed after 12 years.[60]

Burnham, after attending the 1970 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Lusaka, Zambia, paid official visits to several African countries—Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia—over the period 12–30 September 1970. The Guyanese government remained fully involved in the African liberation movement throughout the 1970s.[19]

Burnham sent more than a hundred Guyanese public servants to various departments of the Zambian Government. Many Guyanese doctors, engineers, lawyers and secretaries worked in Southern African states throughout the 1970s.[19]

In 1972, Rabbi David Hill arrived in Guyana and established the House of Israel, a religious sect that the opposition accused of operating as a private army for Burnham's PNC.[61] In 2014 Joseph Hamilton, a former House of Israel priest, testified that the House of Israel committed "oppressive and terrorizing acts on behalf of the PNC."[62]

In the 1973 general election, Burnham received 70% of the vote and 37 of the 53 seats in the National Assembly. It is generally accepted that Burnham had significant untoward influence on the results of the elections, making them fraudulent.[15] During the transportation of ballot boxes by the military, the army shot dead two Indo-Guyanese poll workers, who became known as the "Ballot Box Martyrs".[51] Shortly after the election, Burnham expanded powers of preventative detention, allowing restrictions on movement and possession of firearms, and search without warrant.[63]

On 14 December 1974, Burnham issued the Declaration of Sophia, stating that "the Party should assume unapologetically its paramountcy over the Government which is merely one of its executive arms."[64] The Declaration also called for a transition to a socialist state, and a nationalisation of its economy.[65] The declaration also led to the founding of the Guyana National Service, a paramilitary organisation under the control of the party.[66]

The PNC government's five-year term was due to end in 1978, forcing a new election. On 1 April 1978, Burnham announced a referendum to allow the constitution to be changed by a 2/3 majority in parliament (which the PNC had) rather than a referendum. The opposition presented a united front against the referendum. During the campaign, the PNC terminated the contract of critical newspaper "the Catholic Standard" with a state-owned printing company, hampering their ability to distribute critical material. Advertisements for opposition parties were banned in state media, and violence was used to break up opposition meetings and gatherings. Public employees were forced to sign blank proxy forms allowing others to vote on their behalf. It was also noted that there were over 10% (65,000) more people on the electoral role than the United Nations estimate of the number of eligible voters. The opposition groups eventually urged the Guyanese population to boycott the referendum.[67] During this time, prominent Guyanese poet Martin Carter was beaten by individuals affiliated with the PNC while protesting the government's refusal to hold elections.[68]

Burnham won the 1978 referendum. There are anecdotal claims from hundreds of Indo-Guyanese (and Afro-Guyanese who were PPP supporters) that PNC enforcers aggressively, often violently, denied PPP supporters the opportunity to vote. Official figures showed the referendum passing with an implausible 97.9 percent of the vote.[15] There were accusations that PNC supporters voted multiple times.[67]

A week later, on 17 July 1978, the government used its new powers to change the constitution to postpone the scheduled election. These powers were also used to introduce the new constitution introduced in 1980.[67]

On 18 November 1978, a total of 909 people of the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide in Jonestown. Burnham had previously allowed the group, led by Jim Jones, to move to Guyana from San Francisco, US,[36] and had a good relationship with the group. The incident drew international attention to Guyana,[36] and an inquest established by the opposition blamed Burnham, considered to be an ally of Jones,[12] for the deaths.[69]

There are suggestions that Burnham's government participated in a cover-up of the affair. Burnham's wife Viola and his Deputy Prime Minister Ptolemy Reid were among the first to the scene, and may have returned from the massacre site with nearly US$1 million in cash, gold and jewelry. One of Burnham's secretaries may also have visited Jonestown only hours before it occurred, a visit that was never explained.[70]

In 1979, a fire destroyed many of the official government records, including official communications with the Peoples Temple. There is some speculation that the fire was started deliberately by Burnham's government, and there are reports that men in Guyana Defense Force uniforms were seen running from the fire.[12] Two different government offices were burned. Walter Rodney was arrested and charged with arson. The trial was deferred three times, and later dropped due to lack of evidence.[71]

During civil unrest after the fire and arrest, Jesuit priest Bernard Darke was stabbed to death by members of the House of Israel,[72][73][74] a religious cult closely associated with Burnham and his PNC party.[13] Darke was associated with the Catholic Standard, a newspaper described as being "extremely critical" of the PNC.[73] According to a 2013 article by Kaieteur News, the editor of Catholic News, Andrew Morrison, may have been the actual target of this attack, making it a failed assassination attempt.[75][76]

Walter Rodney died on 13 June 1980 in Georgetown at the age of 38 in a car bomb explosion. His brother Donald, who was injured in the explosion, said that a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force and a member of the House of Israel,[78] named Gregory Smith, had given Rodney the bomb that killed him.[14]

In 2014, Donald Ramotar launched an inquiry into the murder of Rodney despite resistance from the PNC. In 2016, the Commission of Inquiry released findings that state that President Forbes Burnham, aided by the Guyana Defence Force and Guyana Police Force, was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Rodney, the leader of the Working People's Alliance (WPA), a group which posed a threat to Burnham. Rodney's WPA believed that different ethnic groups (including Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese) historically disenfranchised by colonialism should all have a part in the governance of Guyana, a position that challenged Burnham's hold on power.[79][14]

In the last years of Burnham's presidency, his quasi-socialist policies led to economic stagnation. Guyana was not able to export sufficient goods, especially Guyana's main exports, bauxite, rice and sugar, to earn the foreign exchange for vital imports, leading to a trade deficit[8] and massive foreign debt.[2] Commodity shortages and a near-breakdown in public services occurred, and Burnham enforced austerity measures and looked for economic support from Soviet-leaning countries.[45] Burnham's authoritarian policies continued to lead to mass emigration,[8] contributing to a net decrease in the population of Guyana that continued throughout the 1980s.[80]

In Burnham's state-controlled economy, Afro-Guyanese held most jobs and the news media were controlled by the government. Jagan claimed that there was also economic suppression, as people remained politically inactive due to fear of losing their jobs.[2] Burnham continued as president until his death in 1985.

Burnham's administration has been accused of afrocentrist policies[11] and discrimination against the Indian population.[51] Burnham's administration was mostly Afro-Guyanese.[7] The Guyanese armed forces under the Burnham administration were majority Afro-Guyanese[51] after Burnham purged the armed forces of Indo-Guyanese from 1968,[87] and under the state-controlled economy Afro-Guyanese took up the majority of jobs[2] despite being a minority of the population.[46] The resettlement of Afro-Guyanese in Amerindian lands was a major contributing factor in the Rupununi Uprising.[52]

Guyanese journalist Freddie Kissoon expressed the opinion that Burnham was not racist, but was aware that his support was predominantly Afro-Guyanese, the Indo-Guyanese mostly supported Jagan, so that Burnham had to deliver policies to please the Afro-Guyanese racial group and maintain his popular support.[88] Kissoon went on to criticise Burnham for his authoritarian policies regardless of intention, stating that "The reign of Forbes Burnham was frightening and demoralizing"[89] and also stating that during Burnham's tenure "almost 99 percent of Indian Guyanese felt that Guyana had no place for them, and that its president and his party were treating them as second-class citizens," and that Indo-Guyanese "lived in fear of Burnham".[90]

Walter Rodney wrote in an essay that a pamphlet by Jessie Burnham[18] described Forbes' "racist attitude towards Indians".[82] In the pamphlet, a letter is shown in which Burnham writes "I feel strongly about the Indian attitude but the time has not come yet for me to broadcast those feelings".[18] In 1962, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. stated that Burnham was regarded as racist by the US state department and British colonial office.[91]

Burnham passed many authoritarian policies during his tenure, starting with the "National Security Act" after independence.[1] Burnham would pass laws to restrict movement, increase police powers to search and detain, and restrict firearms.[63] He would come to tightly control media coverage.[2][7] He would also make constitutional changes that would provide him with the power to veto legislation, make further constitutional changes without a referendum, control governmental appointments and dissolve parliament.[2]

In 2016, Burnham's government was found to be complicit in the assassination of Walter Rodney[79] and has been accused of using violence to break up opposition meetings and gatherings,[67] being complicit in the deliberate arson of government buildings,[12] and having a role in the Murder of Bernard Darke.[13] Burnham was Head of Government when the army killed two Indo-Guyanese poll workers in 1973 (the "Ballot Box Martyrs").[51]

Prior to taking control of the Guyanese government, Burnham was mentioned in police reports in the violent demonstrations of 1963,[42] and his PNC party was accused of leading the mobs that caused extensive property damage in the Black Friday riots of 1962.[39]

According to declassified documents from the National Security Archive, From 1962 to 1968 Burnham was provided with support from the US Central Intelligence Agency. During this time, Burnham agreed to CIA intervention in Guyana, and received financial assistance in the lead-up to both the 1964 and 1968 elections.[42]

After a meeting in 1962, Thomas J. Dodd described Burnham as "an intelligent, well-educated gentleman". Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., also in 1962, said that Burnham was regarded as "an unprincipled opportunist, racist and demagogue, only interested in personal power."[91] Jessie Burnham described her brother as ambitious and manipulative.[18] Neil L. Whitehead claimed in a book that Burnham was superstitious and engaged with obeah, employing an obeah advisor known as Mother Monica and devouring raw duck eggs and 100-year-old Chinese eggs to increase his potency or power.[13]