MANDELA HAD PLEDGED SUPPORT TO THE PPP IN ITS STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE
December 18, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under Features/Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
It was extremely shocking and disgusting to have read a letter in yesterday’s edition of the Stabroek News, which in true revisionist style, contended that the Peoples Progressive Party did not support a motion moved by the PNC, when it was in government, pledging financial assistance for the liberation movement in South Africa.
This letter mischievously conveys the impression that the PPP voted against support for the African liberation struggles on the grounds that Guyana could not afford the assistance. Those who are peddling this mischief should be asked to produce the evidence they have that the PPP voted against financial support for the African liberation struggles. I contend they will find this very challenging.
For the record, let it be stated that the Peoples Progressive Party was always in the forefront of giving support and solidarity to the African liberation struggles, not just in South Africa, but also in the other countries on the continent fighting for liberation from colonialism, neo-colonialism and apartheid.
For the record also, let it be stated that while he was on trial for treason in 1960, Nelson Mandela and twenty-nine of his comrades wrote a letter to the Eighth Congress of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) supporting the PPP and Guyana’s struggle for independence.
The PPP has historically been consistent in its opposition to apartheid and in support of the liberation struggles in Africa. The PNC was also supportive of these struggles. If ever there was any criticism by the PPP of the PNC’s support for these struggles, it was that the PNC was not going far enough. In 1972, for example, when a motion as moved in the National Assembly for financial support for the South West African Peoples Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia, it was Cheddi Jagan who in supporting the contribution reminded the PNC of its pledge to give sanctuary to freedom fighters from Africa.
In 1956, when a tour of South Africa by a West Indian Cricket team was being touted, Jagan called for a boycott not just of sporting ties with the then apartheid regime, but also for a boycott of their goods.
In fact, from as early as 1952 when the issue of South Africa was debated in the Legislative Assembly in British Guiana, Jagan moved an amendment to a motion. In that amendment he called for the immediate cessation of all trade with South Africa. Jagan felt that the time had long passed for talk, protesting what was happening in South Africa and Rhodesia. He demanded action from the then colonial government of British Guiana.
Jagan was not just in the forefront of the struggles against apartheid. He was also in the lead when it came to the struggles of liberation in Rhodesia and Angola.
Let it also for the record be made known that in 1976, the Peoples National Congress held a rally in Guyana for a visiting delegation from the Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Dr. Jagan spoke at that rally. He not only pledged his support for the struggles of the MPLA, but demanded at that rally that the Burnham administration recognize the MPLA and permit Cuban planes to refuel in Guyana en route to Angola. This was after the backpedaling by the Burnham administration in the face of American and Venezuelan pressure.
At that same rally, Jagan launched a broadside against the Chinese government for its support of the FNLA-UNITA Front. The government of China was part of an axis of powers that were supporting the FNLA-UNITA Front. This stinging criticism led to a walkout by Chinese diplomats. Burnham was openly seen gesticulating to Jagan to tone down his rhetoric so as to not to upset the Chinese embassy officials. Jagan did not take Burnham’s hint.
When South Africa was finally liberated, it enacted a national award, the Companions of Oliver Tambo, which gave recognition to foreign nationals for their friendship and solidarity with the peoples of South Africa. The award was named after Oliver Tambo who headed the ANC for decades. Amongst the recipients was Cheddi Jagan.
Cheddi Jagan has always been a heroic figure on the African continent, not just because of his own epic struggles against colonialism and imperialism, but also because of his unwavering support for the African Liberation Movement, a support which some now dare to question. That support is immortalized in history and cannot be erased by political revisionism.
