History of Guyana

The first people to reach Guyana made their way from Siberia, perhaps as far back as 20,000 years ago. These first inhabitants were nomads who slowly migrated south into Central and South America. At the time of Christopher Columbus's voyages, Guyana's inhabitants were divided into two groups, the Lokono along the coast and the Kalina in the interior. One of the legacies of the indigenous peoples was the word Guiana, often used to describe the region encompassing modern Guyana as well as Suriname (former Dutch Guiana) and French Guiana. The word, which means "land of waters", is appropriate considering the area's multitude of rivers and streams. Historians speculate that the Lokono and Kalinago originated in the South American hinterland and migrated northward, first to the present-day Guianas and then to the Caribbean islands. The Lokono, mainly cultivators, hunters, and fishermen, migrated to the Caribbean islands before the Kalinago and settled throughout the region. The tranquility of the earlier Arawakan-speaking society was disrupted by the arrival of the bellicose Kalinago from the South American interior. The warlike behaviour of the Kalinago and their violent migration north made an impact. By the end of the 15th century, the Kalinago had displaced the earlier Arawakan-speaking population throughout the islands of the Lesser Antilles. The Kalinago settlement of the Lesser Antilles also affected Guyana's future development. The Spanish explorers and settlers who came after Columbus found that the Arawakan-speaking peoples proved easier to conquer than the Kalinago, who fought hard to maintain their independence. This fierce resistance, along with a lack of gold in the Lesser Antilles, contributed to the Spanish emphasis on conquest and settlement of the Greater Antilles and the mainland. Only a weak Spanish effort was made at consolidating Spain's authority in the Lesser Antilles (with the arguable exception of Trinidad) and the Guianas. In later decades, slaving, land seizure, and disease would destroy such societies, causing those who survived to have a "far less elaborate way of life". Between 1400 and 1860, European slave traders would import 500,000 slaves to Guyana and Suriname, along with sugar, as part of the transatlantic slave trade. ==Colonial Guyana==

Early colonisation The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle modern-day Guyana. The Netherlands had obtained independence from Spain in the late 16th century and by the early 17th century had emerged as a major commercial power, trading with the fledgling English and French colonies in the Lesser Antilles. In 1616 the Dutch established the first European settlement in the area of Guyana, who sent periodic patrols through the region, the Dutch gained control over the region early in the 17th century. Dutch sovereignty was officially recognised with the signing of the Treaty of Münster in 1648. European contact and colonisation would have a "catastrophic effect" on indigenous communities, due to diseases, Indian slave trade, intense warfare, and forced migration. In 1621 the government of the Netherlands gave the newly formed Dutch West India Company (WIC) complete control over the trading post on the Essequibo. This Dutch commercial concern administered the colony, known as Essequibo, for more than 170 years. The company established a second colony, on the Berbice River southeast of Essequibo, in 1627. Although the Dutch colonisers initially were motivated by the prospect of trade in the Caribbean, their possessions became significant producers of crops. The growing importance of agriculture was indicated by the export of 15,000 kilograms of tobacco from Essequibo in 1623. But as the agricultural productivity of the Dutch colonies increased, a labour shortage emerged. The indigenous populations were poorly adapted for work on plantations, and many people died from diseases introduced by the Europeans. The early Dutch settlers, pushed Indigenous Indians out of their homelands and those they couldn't they wipe out with a combination of strategy and "superior military technology". Ultimately, Dutch presence in Guyana resulted in internal rather than outward migration of Indians, in part due to pull and push of Dutch trade. Although effective jurisdiction from the Dutch "touched relatively few Indians", relations between the Dutch and Indigenous people were "often punctuated by physical conflicts". The Dutch West India Company turned to the importation of enslaved Africans, who rapidly became a key element in the colonial economy. By the 1660s, the enslaved population numbered about 2,500; the number of indigenous people was estimated at 50,000, most of whom had retreated into the vast hinterland. Although enslaved Africans were considered an essential element of the colonial economy, their working conditions were brutal. The mortality rate was high, and the dismal conditions led to more than half a dozen rebellions led by the enslaved Africans. At the end of the eighteenth century, the number of people who were enslaved within Guyana was "roughly equal that in Suriname" while millions were invested so that goods could be created for Dutch market "using forced labour by African people". Under the British, the colonies became a huge cotton producer. This was thanks to the groundwork laid "during the Dutch colonial era". The return of Dutch rule reignited conflict between the planters of Essequibo and Demerara and the Dutch West India Company. Disturbed by plans for an increase in the slave tax and a reduction in their representation on the colony's judicial and policy councils, the colonists petitioned the Dutch government to consider their grievances. In response, a special committee was appointed, which proceeded to draw up a report called the Concept Plan of Redress. This document called for far-reaching constitutional reforms and later became the basis of the British governmental structure. The plan proposed a decision-making body to be known as the Court of Policy. The judiciary was to consist of two courts of justice, one serving Demerara and the other Essequibo. The membership of the Court of Policy and of the courts of justice would consist of company officials and planters who owned more than twenty-five slaves. The Dutch commission that was assigned the responsibility of implementing this new system of government returned to the Netherlands with extremely unfavourable reports concerning the Dutch West India Company's administration. The company's charter, therefore, was allowed to expire in 1792 and the Concept Plan of Redress was put into effect in Demerara and Essequibo. Renamed the United Colony of Demerara and Essequibo, the area then came under the direct control of the Dutch government. Berbice maintained its status as a separate colony. The catalyst for formal British takeover was the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars. In 1795 the French occupied the Netherlands. The British declared war on France and in 1796 launched an expeditionary force from Barbados to occupy the Dutch colonies. The British takeover was bloodless, and the local Dutch administration of the colony was left relatively uninterrupted under the constitution provided by the Concept Plan of Redress. Like the Dutch, the British, during their occupation of Guyana, also worried about losing control over Indigenous people. By means of the Treaty of Amiens, both were returned to Dutch control. Peace was short-lived, however. The war between Britain and France resumed in less than a year, and in 1803 Demerara-Essequibo and Berbice were seized once more by British troops. At the London Convention of 1814, both colonies were formally ceded to Britain. In 1831, Berbice and Demerara-Essequibo were unified as British Guiana. Their three-to-two decision, handed down in 1899, awarded 94% of the disputed territory to British Guiana. Venezuela received only the mouths of the Orinoco River and a short stretch of the Atlantic coastline just to the east. Although Venezuela was unhappy with the decision, a commission surveyed a new border in accordance with the award, and both sides accepted the boundary in 1905. The issue was considered settled for the next half-century. Guyana then filed an application beginning "proceedings against Venezuela" in March 2018. This led to ongoing decisions by the International Court of Justice, aimed at ending the dispute. The early British Colony and the labour problem Political, economic, and social life in the 19th century was dominated by a European planter class. Although the smallest group in terms of numbers, members of the plantocracy had links to British commercial interests in London and often enjoyed close ties to the governor, who was appointed by the monarch. The plantocracy, including those from Scotland, also controlled exports and the working conditions of the majority of the population. Some scholars stated that British Guinea used more fixed capital per slave than other colonies, like use of large boiling-houses and steam engines. Emancipation also resulted in the introduction of new ethnic and cultural groups into British Guiana. would not end until 1917. == Political and social awakenings ==

Nineteenth-century British Guiana The constitution of the British colony favoured the white and South Asian planters. Planter political power was based in the Court of Policy and the two courts of justice, established in the late 18th century under Dutch rule. The Court of Policy had both legislative and administrative functions and was composed of the governor, three colonial officials, and four colonists, with the governor presiding. The courts of justice resolved judicial matters, such as licensing and civil service appointments, which were brought before them by petition. In addition, the first police force for the colony was established in July 1839. Raising and disbursing revenue was the responsibility of the Combined Court, which included members of the Court of Policy and six additional financial representatives appointed by the College of Electors. In 1855 the Combined Court also assumed responsibility for setting the salaries of all government officials. This duty made the Combined Court a centre of intrigues resulting in periodic clashes between the governor and the planters. Other Guyanese began to demand a more representative political system in the 19th century. By the late 1880s, pressure from the new Afro-Guyanese middle class was building for constitutional reform. In particular, there were calls to convert the Court of Policy into an assembly with ten elected members, to ease voter qualifications, and to abolish the College of Electors. Reforms were resisted by the planters, led by Henry K. Davson, owner of a large plantation. In London the planters had allies in the West India Committee and also in the West India Association of Glasgow, both presided over by proprietors with major interests in British Guiana. During this period, Indian migrants started to move to British Guiana and settle there. Constitutional revisions in 1891 incorporated some of the changes demanded by the reformers. The planters lost political influence with the abolition of the College of Electors and the relaxation of voter qualification. At the same time, the Court of Policy was enlarged to sixteen members; eight of these were to be elected members whose power would be balanced by that of eight appointed members. The Combined Court also continued, consisting, as previously, of the Court of Policy and six financial representatives who were now elected. To ensure that there would be no shift of power to elected officials, the governor remained the head of the Court of Policy; the executive duties of the Court of Policy were transferred to a new Executive Council, which the governor and planters dominated. The 1891 revisions were a great disappointment to the colony's reformers. As a result of the 1892 elections, the membership of the new Combined Court was almost identical to that of the previous one. The next three decades saw additional, although minor, political changes. In 1897 the secret ballot was introduced. A reform in 1909 expanded the limited British Guiana electorate, and for the first time, Afro-Guyanese constituted a majority of the eligible voters. Political changes were accompanied by social change and jockeying by various ethnic groups for increased power. The British and Dutch planters refused to accept the Portuguese as equals and sought to maintain their status as aliens with no rights in the colony, especially voting rights. The political tensions led the Portuguese to establish the Reform Association. After the anti-Portuguese riots of 1898, the Portuguese recognised the need to work with other disenfranchised elements of Guyanese society, in particular the Afro-Guyanese. By around the start of the 20th century, organisations including the Reform Association and the Reform Club began to demand greater participation in the colony's affairs. These organisations were largely the instruments of a small but articulate emerging middle class. Although the new middle class sympathised with the working class, the middle-class political groups were hardly representative of a national political or social movement. Indeed, working-class grievances were usually expressed in the form of riots. Political and social changes in the early twentieth century The 1905 Ruimveldt Riots rocked British Guiana. The severity of these outbursts reflected the workers' widespread dissatisfaction with their standard of living. The uprising began in late November 1905 when the Georgetown stevedores went on strike, demanding higher wages. The strike grew confrontational, and other workers struck in sympathy, creating the country's first urban-rural worker alliance. On 30 November crowds of people took to the streets of Georgetown, and by 1 December 1905, now referred to as 'Black Friday', the situation had spun out of control. At the Plantation Ruimveldt, close to Georgetown, a large crowd of porters refused to disperse when ordered to do so by a police patrol and a detachment of artillery. The colonial authorities opened fire, and four workers were seriously injured. Even though World War I was fought far beyond the borders of British Guiana, the war altered Guyanese society. The Afro-Guyanese who joined the British military became the nucleus of an elite Afro-Guyanese community upon their return. World War I also led to the end of East Indian indentured service. British concerns over political stability in India and criticism by Indian nationalists that the program was a form of human bondage caused the British government to outlaw indentured labour in 1917. In the closing years of World War I, the colony's first trade union was formed. The British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU) was established in 1917 under the leadership of H.N. Critchlow and led by Alfred A. Thorne. Formed in the face of widespread business opposition, the BGLU at first mostly represented Afro-Guyanese dockworkers. Its membership stood around 13,000 by 1920, and it was granted legal status in 1921 under the Trades Union Ordinance. Although recognition of other unions would not come until 1939, the BGLU was an indication that the working class was becoming politically aware and more concerned with its rights. The second trade union, the British Guiana Workers' League, was established in 1931 by Alfred A. Thorne, who served as the League's leader for 22 years. The League sought to improve the working conditions for people of all ethnic backgrounds in the colony. Most workers were of West African, East Indian, Chinese and Portuguese descent, and had been brought to the country under a system of forced or indentured labour. After World War I, new economic interest groups began to clash with the Combined Court. The country's economy had come to depend less on sugar and more on rice and bauxite, and producers of these new commodities resented the sugar planters' continued domination of the Combined Court. Meanwhile, the planters were feeling the effects of lower sugar prices and wanted the Combined Court to provide the necessary funds for new drainage and irrigation programs. To stop the bickering and resultant legislative paralysis, in 1928 the Colonial Office announced a new constitution that would make British Guiana a crown colony under the tight control of a governor appointed by the Colonial Office. The Combined Court and the Court of Policy were replaced by a Legislative Council with a majority of appointed members. With the fighting far away, and the country as part of the Allies due to British colonial rule, the period of World War II, in British Guiana, was marked by continuing political reform and improvements to the national infrastructure. The governor, Sir Gordon Lethem, created the country's first Ten-Year Development Plan, reduced property qualifications for office holding and voting, and made elective members a majority on the Legislative Council in 1943. == Pre-independence government ==

Development of political parties At the end of World War II, political awareness and demands for independence grew in all segments of society. The immediate postwar period witnessed the founding of Guyana's major political parties. The People's Progressive Party (PPP) was founded on 1 January 1950. Internal conflicts developed in the PPP, and in 1957 the People's National Congress (PNC) was created as a split-off. These years also saw the beginning of a long and acrimonious struggle between the country's two dominant political personalities—Cheddi Jagan and Linden Forbes Burnham. The U.S. government favoured Burnham over Jagan, an effort to prevent the Soviet Union from "gaining a foothold on the South American continent", with the country serving "special significance" during the Cold War. At that time, Guyana had a low gross national product, but mineral resources such as silver, wheat, timber, peanuts, and food processing. Founding of the PAC and PPP The springboard for Jagan's political career was the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), formed in 1946 as a discussion group. The new organisation published the PAC Bulletin to promote its Marxist ideology and ideas of liberation and decolonisation. The PAC's outspoken criticism of the colony's poor living standards attracted followers as well as detractors. Jagan won a seat and briefly joined the Labour Party. But he had difficulties with his new party's centre-right ideology and soon left its ranks. The Labour Party's support of the policies of the British governor and its inability to create a grass-roots base gradually stripped it of liberal supporters throughout the country. The Labour Party's lack of a clear-cut reform agenda left a vacuum, which Jagan rapidly moved to fill. Turmoil on the colony's sugar plantations gave him an opportunity to achieve national standing. After the 16 June 1948 police shootings of five Indo-Guyanese workers at Enmore, close to Georgetown, the PAC and the Guiana Industrial Workers' Union (GIWU) organised a large and peaceful demonstration, which clearly enhanced Jagan's standing with the Indo-Guyanese population. and Ashton Chase, both PAC veterans. The new party's first victory came in the 1950 municipal elections, in which Janet Jagan won a seat. Cheddi Jagan and Burnham failed to win seats, but Burnham's campaign made a favourable impression on many Afro-Guyanese citizens. From its first victory in the 1950 municipal election, the PPP gathered momentum. The previous year, Jagan wrote a letter to the Czechoslovak Communist Party, with a request for assistance from the party, and would visit Czechoslavkia in August 1951. A compromise was reached by which members of what had become Burnham's faction received ministerial appointments. The PPP's introduction of the Labour Relations Act provoked a confrontation with the British. This law ostensibly was aimed at reducing intraunion rivalries, but would have favoured the GIWU, which was closely aligned with the ruling party. The opposition charged that the PPP was seeking to gain control over the colony's economic and social life and was moving to stifle the opposition. The day the act was introduced to the legislature, the GIWU went on strike in support of the proposed law. The British government interpreted this intermingling of party politics and labour unionism as a direct challenge to the constitution and the authority of the governor. The day after the act was passed, on 9 October 1953, London suspended the colony's constitution. Then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said they need to do everything they could to "break the communist teeth in British Guiana". In 2000, U.S. historian William Blum added that beginning in 1953, and ending in 1964, the U.S. and Britain made life "extremely difficult" for Jagan and his government, because he was building a society which showcased a "successful...alternative...to the capital model". Tactics used included disinformation, terrorism, legalism, and general strikes, all aimed at forcing him from office. The second PPP government The 1957 elections held under a new constitution demonstrated the extent of the growing ethnic division within the Guyanese electorate. The 1957 elections were convincingly won by Jagan's PPP faction. Although his group had a secure parliamentary majority, caused his party to lose significant Afro-Guyanese support. In the late 1950s, the British Caribbean colonies had been actively negotiating establishment of a West Indies Federation. The PPP had pledged to work for the eventual political union of British Guiana with the Caribbean territories. The Indo-Guyanese, who constituted a majority in Guyana, were apprehensive of becoming part of a federation in which they would be outnumbered by people of African descent. Burnham learned an important lesson from the 1957 elections. He could not win if supported only by the lower-class, urban Afro-Guyanese. He needed middle-class allies, especially those Afro-Guyanese who backed the moderate United Democratic Party. From 1957 onward, Burnham worked to create a balance between maintaining the backing of the more radical Afro-Guyanese lower classes and gaining the support of the more capitalist middle class. Clearly, Burnham's stated preference for socialism would not bind those two groups together against Jagan, an avowed Marxist. The answer was something more basic: race. Burnham's move toward the right was accomplished with the merger of his PPP faction and the United Democratic Party into a new organisation, the People's National Congress (PNC). The political split deepened the racial division between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese, 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. Following the 1957 elections, Jagan rapidly consolidated his hold on the Indo-Guyanese community. Though candid in expressing his admiration for Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and, later, Fidel Castro Ruz, Jagan in power asserted that the PPP's Marxist-Leninist principles must be adapted to Guyana's own particular circumstances. Jagan advocated nationalisation of foreign holdings, especially in the sugar industry. British fears of a communist takeover, however, caused the British governor to hold Jagan's more radical policy initiatives in check, while Jagan remained as Minister of Trade and Industry. PPP re-election and aftermath The 1961 elections were a bitter contest between the PPP, the PNC, and the United Force (UF), a conservative party representing big business, the Roman Catholic Church, and Amerindian, Chinese, and Portuguese voters. Jagan would become others harboured suspicions of him. Although he would even meet with U.S. President Kennedy in October 1962, he would believe that the CIA had fomented riots earlier that year when he introduced an austerity budget which increased a tax increase which "fell mainly on Guiana's African and mixed population". From 1961 to 1964, Jagan was confronted with a destabilisation campaign conducted by the PNC and UF. In addition to domestic opponents of Jagan, an important role was played by the U.S. American Institute for Free Labour Development (AIFLD), alleged to be a CIA front organisation. Various reports say that AIFLD, with a budget of , maintained anti-Jagan labour leaders on its payroll, as well as an AIFLD-trained staff of 11 activists who were assigned to organise riots and destabilise the Jagan government. Riots and demonstrations against the PPP administration were frequent, and during disturbances in 1962 and 1963 mobs destroyed part of Georgetown, doing in damage. The U.S. funded "splinter and opposition groups" opposing Jagan, in part because of his "close ties" to Fidel Castro, with the AFL-CIO and CIA allegedly inciting "racially charged strikes and riots". Riots broke out on 5 April; they were followed on 18 April by a general strike. By 9 May, the governor was compelled to declare a state of emergency. Nevertheless, the strike and violence continued until 7 July, an impossibility. Jagan's term had not yet ended when another round of labour unrest rocked the colony. The pro-PPP GIWU, which had become an umbrella group of all labour organisations, called on sugar workers to strike in January 1964. On 22 May the governor finally declared another state of emergency. The situation continued to worsen, and in June the governor assumed full powers, rushed in British troops to restore order, and proclaimed a moratorium on all political activity. By the end of the turmoil, 160 people were dead and more than 1,000 homes had been destroyed. As Jagan feared, the PPP lost the general elections of 1964. The U.S.-British effort, which began in 1953, to force Chagan out of office had been successful. Some scholars described Burnham's victory as the beginning of a "long, repressive era" in the country's history. == Independence and the Burnham era ==

Burnham in power In the first year under Forbes Burnham, conditions in the colony began to stabilise. The new coalition administration broke diplomatic ties with Cuba and implemented policies that favoured local investors and foreign industry. This included the establishment of the Bank of Guyana in October 1965. The colony applied the renewed flow of Western aid to further development of its infrastructure. A constitutional conference was held in London; the conference set 26 May 1966 as the date for the colony's independence from the United Kingdom. The sitting of the country's first Parliament happened on 26 May 1966, when the Guyana Independence Act came into effect, and day of the country's independence. The country also joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1966. in the Cuyuni River, and two years later claimed a strip of sea along Guyana's western coast. The U.S. government would soon recognise independence of the country and establish a U.S. embassy in Georgetown. Guyana had been under British rule. Delmar R. Carlson was appointed as the first U.S. Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Guyana. However, a memorandum in October 1965, by chief analysts of the CIA would note the weaknesses of Burnham, the continued strength of Jagan, and argued that Burham would need "support from East Indians to be successful". They believed that this would result in him turning to Canada, the U.S., and UK for aid to accomplish those goals. Another challenge to the newly independent government came at the beginning of January 1969, with the Rupununi Uprising. In the Rupununi region in southwest Guyana, along the Venezuelan border, white settlers and Amerindians rebelled against the central government. Several Guyanese policemen in the area were killed, and spokesmen for the rebels declared the area independent and asked for Venezuelan aid. Troops arrived from Georgetown within days, and the rebellion was quickly put down, which refused to provide military aid to the rebels. After the uprising, Venezuela President Rafael Caldera and Burnham were alarmed at the uprising and vowed to focus their attentions on the issue of the territorial dispute between their two countries. Their concern led to the Port of Spain Protocol in 1970. In 2019, the office of Guyanese President David Granger would describe the rebellion as consisting of "a few related cattle-owning families...[on] huge haciendas" rather than Indigenous people. The cooperative republic The 1968 elections allowed the PNC to rule without The United Force (UF). He used this opportunity to address the evils of imperialism and the need to support liberation movements in southern Africa. Burnham also let Cuban troops use Guyana as a transit point on their way to the war in Angola in the mid-1970s and established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in June 1972. Others argued that he became a "dictatorial figure" and that, by this point, he had "adopted the very politics the United States had sought to fend off." Some scholars have noted that opposition, at the time, to the Guyanese government was multiracial. Also, it was said that in 1973, the overseas vote was "padded" while real people were disenfranchised, even recognised by U.S. Embassy officials. The country also joined CARICOM in August 1973. Government authoritarianism increased in 1974 when Burnham issued the Declaration of Sophia where he stated that "the Party should assume unapologetically its paramountcy over the Government which is merely one of its executive arms." All organs of the state would be considered agencies of the ruling PNC and subject to its control. The state and the PNC became interchangeable; PNC objectives were now public policy. The Declaration also called for a transition to a socialist state, and a nationalisation of its economy. However, despite this "nationalistic, leftist-oriented economic policy", which included the bauxitemining industry being nationalised, the U.S. remained a backer of the government. Opposed to Burnham's authoritarianism, the WPA was a multi-ethnic combination of politicians and intellectuals that advocated racial harmony, free elections, and democratic socialism. Although the WPA did not become an official political party until 1979, it evolved as an alternative to Burnham's PNC and Jagan's PPP. The following year, workers in the Guyanese sugar industry would strike "135 days for economic justice", ending their action on 5 January 1978. Despite Jagan's conciliatory move, Burnham had no intention of sharing powers and continued to secure his position. The PNC postponed the 1978 elections, opting instead for a referendum to be held in July 1978. proposing to keep the incumbent assembly in power. The July 1978 national referendum was poorly received. Although the PNC government proudly proclaimed that 71% of eligible voters participated and that 97% approved the referendum, other estimates put turnout at 10% to 14%. The low turnout was caused in large part by a boycott led by the PPP, WPA, and other opposition forces. Later, then-Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, in a speech to his supporters, would argue that U.S. efforts in Guyana, in the 1970s, were a form of "destabilisation". Jonestown and the 1978 massacre Burnham's control over Guyana began to weaken when the Jonestown massacre brought unwanted international attention. In the late 1970s, Jim Jones, leader of the People's Temple of Christ, moved more than 1,000 of his followers from San Francisco to form Jonestown. It was a utopian agricultural community near Port Kaituma in western Guyana. The People's Temple of Christ was regarded by members of the Guyanese government as a model agricultural community that shared its vision of settling the hinterland and its view of cooperative socialism. The fact that the People's Temple was well equipped with openly flaunted weapons hinted that the community had the approval of members of the PNC's inner circle. Complaints of abuse by leaders of the cult prompted United States congressman Leo Ryan to fly to Guyana to investigate the matter. The San Francisco-area representative was shot and killed by members of the People's Temple as he was boarding an airplane in Port Kaituma to return to Georgetown. Fearing further publicity, Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in a massive communal murder and suicide. The November 1978 Jonestown massacre suddenly put the Burnham government under intense foreign scrutiny, especially from the United States. Investigations into the massacre led to allegations that the Guyanese government had links to the People's Temple. Originally, the U.S. government wanted to bury the bodies from the massacre in a mass grave, but the Guyanese government insisted they be removed, with Jonestown Memorial Fund member Rebecca Moore arguing it was "an U.S. problem dumped in their laps". Even so, the Guyanese government would begin an extended fund faculty with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which would continue until July 1980. That aid would then be replaced by a similar financial instrument, which lasted to July 1982. Although Burham's government was backed by the U.S., privately, diplomats were sceptical, and believed that the Guyanese authorities had "covered up evidence" in Rodney's assassination. Even so, the U.S. continued to support the country's economy as part of their "Cold War policy in the Caribbean and Central and South America." A commission on his death was later convened by the PPP government in 2014. The economic crisis facing Guyana in the early 1980s deepened considerably, accompanied by the rapid deterioration of public services, infrastructure, and overall quality of life. The country became "one of the poorest" in the region. Blackouts occurred almost daily, and water services were increasingly unsatisfactory. The litany of Guyana's decline included shortages of rice and sugar (both produced in the country), cooking oil, and kerosene. While the formal economy sank, the black market economy in Guyana thrived. Richard Dwyer, deputy chief of mission in Guyana described the country as "riddled by corruption" and said the Burnham government had politics which had become "increasingly unsavory." Later, U.S. ambassador George B. Roberts Jr. found Burham distasteful, but called Cheddi Jagan "still unacceptable" to the U.S. Guyana historically has had environmental issues relating to tropical forests and forests under medium-to-high threat from deforestation. In 1983, Burnham urged U.S. President Ronald Reagan to limit operations in Grenada to evacuation of U.S. citizens, rather than a full-scale invasion. In the midst of this turbulent period, Burnham underwent surgery for a throat ailment. On 6 August 1985, while in the care of Cuban doctors, Guyana's first and only leader since independence unexpectedly died of heart failure. In 2020, National Security Archive experts John Prados and Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi argued that Burnham, who had been put in place thanks to a CIA covert operation, was "corrupt, arbitrary, and self-dealing". == Hoyte to present ==

Hoyte and economic liberalisation Despite concerns that the country was about to fall into a period of political instability, the transfer of power went smoothly. Vice President Desmond Hoyte became the new executive president and leader of the PNC. His initial tasks were threefold: to secure authority within the PNC and national government, to take the PNC through the December 1985 elections, and to revitalise the stagnant economy. The State Department would later stated that the Guyanese government sought to improve diplomatic relations with the U.S., coupled with a shift "toward political nonalignment" and away from "state socialism and one-party control" to expanded freedom of assembly and press and a market economy. In 1986, his government would submit a letter of intent to the IMF and World Bank, indicating commitment and willingness to economic policy reform. Hoyte's first two goals were easily accomplished. The new leader took advantage of factionalism within the PNC to quietly consolidate his authority. The December 1985 elections gave the PNC 79% of the vote and 42/53 directly elected seats. Eight of the remaining eleven seats went to the PPP, two went to the UF, and one to the WPA. Charging fraud, the opposition boycotted the December 1986 municipal elections. With no opponents, the PNC won all ninety-one seats in local government. The Hayte government would also renew aid arrangements with the IMF. From July 1990 to December 1991, the country would have a IMF Stand-By Arrangement, in conjunction with an Extended Credit Facility which lasted until December 1993. As one scholar, noting Canadian involvement in the country's economy, put it, "to say that structural adjustment was harsh would be an understatement". Jagan's years in power Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Guyana to lobby for the resumption of free elections. On 5 October 1992, a new National Assembly and regional councils were elected in the first Guyanese election since 1964 to be internationally recognised as free and fair. Cheddi Jagan of the PPP was elected and sworn in as president on 9 October 1992. Jagan's government debated whether to continue to implement the IMF programme agreed to under the former administration, and decided to stick with the programme, while Jagan argued publicly that the working class of the country were harmed by these programmes. The country would join the World Trade Organization in 1995. The previous year, Guyana had joined the World Intellectual Property Organization. National elections were held on 19 March 2001, three months later than planned, as the election committees said they were unprepared. Fears that the violence that marred the previous election led to monitoring by foreign bodies, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter. In March incumbent President Jagdeo won the election During the 2005 Georgetown flood, 34 people were killed and many crops were destroyed; In May 2008, President Bharrat Jagdeo was a signatory to the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty of the Union of South American Nations. On 12 February 2010, Guyana ratified its membership in the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Coalitions, oil drilling, and political instability In December 2011, President Bharrat Jagdeo was succeeded by Donald Ramotar of the governing People's Progressive Party (PPP/C). However, the ruling party, mainly supported by Guyana's ethnic-Indians, lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 19 years. This "new oil wealth" has also led to maritime border disputes with neighbouring nations, regards to resources in Guyana's exclusive economic zone. ExxonMobil later stated that they were "firmly established" in the country, as the country's largest oil producer, with an office in Georgetwn, and numerous ongoing offshore "exploration and development operations offshore. In their overview, the World Bank would also note that the country had "large offshore oil and gas reserves", but was at "high risk of climate induced hazards". As noted by scholars in 2021, in the consortium engaged in offshore drilling, Exxon has 45% of the shares, Hess Corporation 30%, and the China National Offshore Oil Company has 25%. In December 2018, the government had been defeated by a vote of no confidence in Granger, with new elections constitutionally required. However, the sitting government used various court challenges and tactics to give itself "another year in office" as a caretaker government. Disputed elections, ethnic conflict, and territorial disputes 2020 Election In August 2020, the 75-year-old incumbent David Granger lost narrowly and he did not accept the result. in a country composed of five primary ethnic groups: Indians, Africans, Amerindians, Europeans (mainly Portuguese), and Chinese. Guayana Esequiba Following the discovery of oil reserves in Guayana Esequiba in 2015, the territorial dispute over the region between Venezuela and Guyana escalated. In late 2023, a military buildup of Venezuelan forces on the border with Guayana Esequiba sparked a diplomatic crisis. On 3 December 2023, a non-binding referendum in Venezuela was held on the annexation of the territory into Venezuela. Despite low turnout, with an estimated 2.1 million participating, 95% voted to create a Guayana Esequiba state under Venezuelan control, and granting Venezuelan citizenship to the region's inhabitants and "implementing social programs" for those living there. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro described the referendum as a "moment for national unity" and said that Venezuela is "recovering the lands bequeathed to us by our independence heroes." The referendum's questions were condemned by the Guyanese government, the Commonwealth of Nations Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, and Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro. Also, the leadership of the Caribbean Community voiced support for Guyana, and Brazil increased its military presence along its northern border, in response to the escalating tensions in the region. Within Venezuela, the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela called for resolving the conflict between Guyana and Venezuela peacefully, and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) described the referendum as the "old strategy of the bourgeoisie [that tries] to instill patriotic and chauvinist feelings in a good part of the population (...) making people believe that in our country there is no more important problem to solve". Some speculated that the dispute has "raised fears of U.S. intervention in the region" due to U.S. backing of the Guyanese government. ==See also==