Posted February 14th. 2001
Please circulate as much as you see fit
NOTE: This is NOT the sworn affidavit of December 1989 to which earlier mention
was made. I am still working with my attorneys regarding release of that document.
This attached document is being re-released in view of the resumption of those
attacks by HUGH DESMOND HOYTE using the name of Rickford Burke of New York who
heads the PNC/R's front organization called Guyana Institute of Democracy.
Burke has neither the writing capacity nor access to personal information
as flows from his "authorship." That he would allow the ex-dictator to abuse
him in this manner is testament to Burke's own lack of character, the effectiveness
of my writings, and the fact that the Reform element of the PNC is so far effectively
clamping down on Hoyte's instincts for violent threats and actions. The ex-dictator's
attacks on me must be therapeutic for his benefit.
STATEMENT BY DR. FESTUS BROTHERSON JR. IN REFUTATION
AND CLARIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE'S NATIONAL CONGRESS (PNC) GOVERNMENT OF GUYANA
CHARGES REGARDING HIS ROLE, FUNCTIONS, AND RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RULING PARTY
AND GOVERNMENT -- JUNE 20, 1989
The Issues The PNC claims that I was a policymaker in the party from 1964 when Forbes
Burnham took power until 1985 when he died - a twenty-one year period. They
state that I sought and was denied a senior position with the party and government
under President Hoyte, and, because of this, I have become embittered and personally
biased against Hr. Hoyte. They further allege that I used to rig elections and
that my conversion from Marxism to become a severe critic of the ideology is
specious and convenient. They also allege that the PNC government saved my life
and that of my wife's when our family was struck by ill-health. They claim too
that it was the PNC which funded my graduate studies. The total effort of the
campaign is designed to portray me as ungrateful to the PNC government and as
a principal contributor to the strife-tom, bankrupt, authoritarian society which
is today's Guyana.
Rebuttal of the More Outrageous Falsehoods In 1973, for example, I was a freshman at Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles, California. In 1980, I was in graduate school at University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) reading for my master's degree, and in 1985 I was at the
same institution concluding studies for my doctorate. My one and only role in
any plebiscite was the 1978 national referendum on a new Guyana constitution.
My job with the PNC at that time required me to promote the campaign.
These are facts in the public domain and, as such, they are readily verifiable.
It is thus easy to refute the outrageous claims regarding the length of my tenureship
with the PNC in an influential position, and my role in elections over the years.
The other falsehoods (seeking and being denied a senior position; convenient
conversion from Marxism; PNC saved my wife's life and mine; and PNC bankrolled
my graduate education) are exposed throughout this document.
Tactics Designed to Discredit Policy Disputes The fact that I was due for medical treatment abroad facilitated a non-controversial
exit by me from Guyana. Some opposers of the regime were not fooled by the arrangement.
For example, the Mirror newspaper of January 25, 1981 wrote about my departure
under the caption "PNC Casualties Mount."
Although I usually projected a very loyal public profile, my maverick ways
had put me in serious trouble with colleagues in the ruling party many times;
including one aborted major attempt by Mr. Hoyte personally to have me severely
disciplined. Other complaints had even called for my expulsion because of my
"refusal to follow orders." For example, I was a fierce opponent of the unleashing
of the coal pot upon Guyanese housewives as "appropriate technology," and refused
to promote it in any major way in New Nation. I held firm to the view that the
coal pot was a fire-hazard given the dilapidated state of housing in Guyana.
I was also an opponent of the infamous cane cutting exercises and "volunteer"
work at Hope Estate where workers were forced to toil at menial jobs in service
of the "revolution." The explanation that I was excused on grounds of allergies
was a compromise agreement to save the party embarrassment regarding my publicized
absences from such activities. Guyana's uncompromising non-aligned foreign policy
was also criticised by me.
Most importantly, I was a very strong critic of violent attacks on churches
and their personnel in Guyana; especially the Roman Catholic Church.
I had originally supported spirited rhetorical engagements during the national
referendum campaign of 1978. Indeed, in the view of many, one of the highlights
of that campaign had been the competing political cartoons in the New Nation
and the Catholic Standard newspapers. Because of my persistency, the PNC leadership
finally agreed to the launching of a secret project by me which I had proposed
as a means of rebuilding cooperation and diffusing confrontation with all religious
bodies.
It was called PRAY (Promote Religion All Year). Indeed, even while based overseas,
I vigorously protested the resurrection of violent tactics against the churches
in a letter to then Prime Minister Desmond Hoyte on April 19, 1985. Mr. Hoyte
replied in a letter of May 24, 1985. I have been told by some officials that
my letter and ideas were influential in Mr. Hoyte's establishing an advisory
committee on religion when he became president a few months later.
The Banning of the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) This weighed heavily upon my conscience for many years, especially as my intellectual
development became irreconcilable with socialism and its authoritarian tactics.
When the ban was lifted by President Hoyte in 1986, I wrote an article praising
the decision, but it was "lost" in the Office of the President where it had
been sent by muzzled media functionaries for approval for publication.
Change of Views The attempt now by the PNC to project my well-known association with the organization
as some all-powerful negative, which denies me the right to be outspoken on
Marxism and other issues, is rather ironical. It has put the ruling party in
the uncomfortable position of grudgingly admitting that pre-1985 policies were
ill-conceived. But I do not bring bitterness to my writings.
Instead, I simply provide insights derived from my former insider position.
Beyond that, I bring to my work ideas and influences over thirteen year period
of studies during which PNC politics has been marginal to my intellectual growth
and development. Indeed, for the entire thirteen-year period from 1972 to 1985,
all except two and one half years were spent overseas in advanced studies.
My Position on Hoyte and Burnham I think Mr. Hoyte moreso than Mr. Burnham has the genuine interests of Guyana
in proper perspective. But Hoyte does not have Burnham's leadership skills (See
my article in Caribbean Contact, January 1989).
In fact I am an admirer of Burnham's political talents such as oratory, ability
to nurture loyalty and to out-maneuver his opposers. But I am a severe critic
of the use to which he put those skills, resulting in the Guyana monster state
today. My position is this: I was unwittingly a part of creating the authoritarian
monster state from 1977-1979 and I am now pledged to assure its dismantling
or significant reform.
This position I do not take lightly and, apparently, neither does the PNC to
judge from the campaign of character assassination they have embarked upon.
As one senior official has put it: "Due to his background, training, and past
high office with us (PNC), Brotherson could become a more serious threat than
(Walter) Rodney."
Purpose of my Writings I say this to make the point that my writings and speeches have a particular
purpose. They are designed to provide insight into the peculiar problems of
Guyana which are rooted largely in the authoritarian machinations of the People's
National Congress government, whose leadership functions under and seeks to
legitimize the dangerous notion that Guyana is its fiefdom; that the PNC is
all-knowing and all-vise about the country's problems and what solutions are
necessary. I refuse to accept that service to Guyana can only mean alliance
and cooperation with the PNC.
It had been my intention, as I had done in the past, to work for positive
policy changes from within the leadership structure of the PNC. The terms under
which I returned to Guyana in 1986 were flexible enough to assure this. But
for reasons explored elsewhere in this statement matters did not turn out that
way. Today, the analyses I provide audiences around the world and to Guyanese
in particular are exactly what I would have done quietly from within the PNC.
Senior Position Never Requested For example, when feelers were made in 1978 and 1979 regarding ray interest
in being made minister of information, I voiced disinterest. And when supporters
nominated me for vice chairmanship of the party in 1979, I declined. I repeat:
I have never ever asked the PNC for any specific senior position within the
leadership structure of the ruling party and government.
I did not do this during 1977-1979, and I most certainly did not make any
such request when I returned in 1986. In 1985, I declined spirited overtures
from Vice President and PNC General Secretary Chandisingh to accept appointment
as his Personal Political Assistant or Special Political Assistant or some such
title. Unlike some, I have never needed titles to be accorded respect in the
wider society.
I challenge the PNC to back up its propagation of this rumour with hard facts
such as what positions I sought and from whom, as veil as what positions were
denied me and by whom.
When in 1977 I returned home to fulfill obligations of my government scholarship,
I was genuinely surprised by my rapid rise in the PNC after being sent to the
Ministry of National Development. I have since understood that this type of
advancement was an important part of the leadership strategy of Forbes Burnham.
He had frequently demonstrated an uncanny ability to co-opt young persons for
their talent and channel their energies on behalf of his policies while denying
others the use of those talents.
Through a skillful process of using ideology as a form of higher cunning, individuals
were made to believe that their service was to the country in search of a utopia,
when the truth was that their service was merely to advance the personal power
of the maximum leader who equated his own interests with that of the nation.
Action Line I was told it was a part of my job for which I was under contract in view
of the scholarship I had been granted to study abroad. My manner of handling
this programme was in retrospect quite wrong and I have had a lot of time to
reflect on it. It fills me with a profound sense of shame about how caught up
I was in defending the regime and ignoring the views of its opposers.
But I wonder if anyone could have done it much differently in those days.
Indeed, I had been pressed into service precisely because of deep dissatisfaction
with other moderators. But in 1979, when my position was stronger in the party,
and friction over policies were escalating between myself and some of the ruling
party leadership, I simply declined to continue moderating the program. I opted
to devote my time to promoting a positive image for Guyana in the Caribbean;
a task which was switched to the North American environment as part of the terms
for my unpublicized departure from Guyana.
Wooing me to Return Home The new top leadership hastened to assure that my services were still needed.
But in the direct and indirect contacts made with me it was unclear to what
extent persons were aware of the details of the earlier confidential requests.
One of the central figures in the whole process had been Guyana's Ambassador
to Washington Dr. Cedric Grant. In later contacts, others were Vice President
Chandisingh, Prime Minister Hamilton Green, and former Prime Minister P. A.
Reid. President Desmond Hoyte was himself also a principal player.
By special invitation, I visited Guyana in August 1985 to attend the Biennial
Congress of the PNC (presided over for the first time by President Hoyte) and
to have discussions with the leadership about my proposed return.
I had at least two private meetings with President Hoyte. The first, on Saturday,
August 31 was no more than a re-acquaintanceship, because our contacts since
1979 had been limited for the most part to letters and cables. At the second
meeting in his office on Tuesday, September 24, I told the president that I
was not the same kind of person I was during the period 1977-1979. I did not
raise the matter of restructuring the PNC and he did not raise it. I told the
president that my specific interest lay in writing a biography of Forbes Burnham
upon my return. He said he had been briefed about it. I did not ask or give
any indication of interest in any other job.
I am sure that President Hoyte could confirm this. We also spoke about arrangements
to bring me home, e.g. expediting payment to me of allowances owed for diplomatic
work since 1980!
The Burnham Biography Prospect He felt my efforts should be expanded to include other PNC leaders such as
Winifred Gaskin, Jainaraine Singh, etc., and trade union leaders. He thought
that a formal structure should be created within the PNC to be exclusively concerned
with this kind of "documentation." It was a more elaborate scheme than I had
envisaged.
I complied and, the next day, Wednesday, September 25, proposed the entire
expanded proposal to a full meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the
PNC. The proposal won unanimous approval except for minor reservations expressed
by Deputy Prime Minister Haslyn Parris.
Its most vociferous backers were Prime Minister Green, Vice President Shahabbudeen,
Vice President Chandisingh, Vice President Viola Burnham and Deputy Prime Minister
Robert Corbin. I left Guyana a few days later to conclude filing the necessary
papers for my doctorate from UCLA with the clear understanding that the documentation
unit would be set up in my absence and I would head it upon my return.
But during my absence nothing was done. Upon learning about this in late December
1985 while in Los Angeles, I sought to withdraw from the arrangement pointing
also to delays in the arrangements to get me home and to a number of lucrative
job offers in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
I was then courted weekly and then almost daily by telephone by the topmost
leadership of the party and government and its intermediaries overseas. I was
beseeched not to accept any foreign offers. I vas told that a person of my strong
patriotism would be most unhappy living and working overseas when my skills
were in demand at home. This was persuasive but I pointed to lack of progress
on the documentation unit for the biography, the economic hardship posed by
breakdown in the arrangements to get me home, and raised more vehemently the
need for the government to pay me sums of monies owed for diplomatic work since
1980.
In a personal letter to President Hoyte on January 15, 1986, I set February
7 as a deadline for concrete action. The president directly intervened. He arranged
for some payment of overdue monies, and expedited the arrangements for my return
by early May 1986.
This retracing of developments again underscores that at no time did I seek
any senior position in the PNC party and government as a condition for my return.
Upon my return to Guyana in May 1986, I met again with the top leadership of
the PNC, including Hoyte, Green, Reid, and Chandisingh. In the first private
meeting with Hoyte which took place in May or June during a General Council
meeting of the party, I expressed regret that nothing had been done to set up
the documentation unit. I told him again that I was not the same person I was
in 1977. Mr. Hoyte pondered on the latter point and said he too was not the
same person he was a few years ago.
In the context of our discussion, this appeared to mean that developments in
and outside politics had brought about a change in his philosophy.
He shared my unhappiness that nothing had been done about the biography project
and concurred in General Secretary Chandisingh's earlier explanation that the
appointment of Malcolm Parris as Ambassador to Moscow had been partially responsible,
since it was Parris who had been asked to set up the documentation unit.
The president also pointed to the recent 1985 general election campaign which
had kept everyone very busy. He said the proposal for the unit needed more work.
Specifically, the cost should be spelt out. But he said costing had become a
major issue since during my recent absence a lot of financial irregularities
and some fraud had been discovered in the PNC, an the organisation was for all
intents and purposes bankrupt.
I proceeded to cost the expanded unit the president favoured. He did not indicate
he wanted a scaling back of the project to the limited size and scope I had
earlier proposed. In fact, he had reiterated the need for trade union and other
leaders to be accommodated.
The help of experts in various agencies concerned with costing projects was
sought. Their unanimous finding was that the project as preferred by the president
would cost at least G$1m to launch and complete over a five year period. The
proposal was seen and okayed by Chandisingh, and (I think) Green before I sent
it to the president.
Hoyte Abandons Biography Project For example, I was rebuked for "joining the growing bandwagon" of senior officials
complaining about Chandisingh's incompetence and racial prejudice. Subtle allusion
was made to reports that I appeared more partial to Hamilton Green, and he made
very erroneous personal comments regarding his own (misinformed) views about
the PNC's kindnesses to me over the years, the need to groom me "tirelessly
and properly for important leadership in the party", etc.
As the tirade ensued, I stopped defending myself and ceased offering any explanations.
As a veteran of PNC politics and tactics, it had because clear that Hr. Hoyte
was setting up a reason to abandon the biography project. I clearly recognised
the signs since I had seen the tactic used on others in the past. I was now
being instructed to "go home and await my orders."
The president said he was considering placing me in a suitable agency where
my known talents could be fully exploited. This alarmed me because it seemed
to indicate that he was not only abandoning the biography project but now also
appeared bent on resurrecting aspects of my old role in 1977-1979. In days preceding
our meeting, for example, there had been much talk about my being asked "to
take on New Nation" again.
Later that day, I reported the sudden turn of events to senior party leaders,
indicating that I was no longer interested in working for the PNC. Prime Minister
Green was most perturbed by this turn of events but he urged me to remain in
Guyana and "give Desmond (Hoyte) another chance." Two senior persons later explained
that Mr. Hoyte was under enormous pressure from the United States administration
to show disdain for Forbes Burnham. This apparently was a precondition for serious
dialogue with the US on aid to Guyana. But I refused to sit at home and wait
for the president's call. Instead, I discontinued all but necessary ties with
the PNC, imported a minibus, and operated it to make up for loss of income.
Apparently, to ensure my "good" behavior, the PNC halted my salary without informing
me. This was a tactic routinely used in the past to coerce less affluent and
independent functionaries into desired behavior.
University of Guyana Appointment At UG, I was earning less than half of my former PNC salary. But not surprisingly,
efforts by some strong backers in the PNC to have me paid the difference as
a consultant were stalled in the Office of the President. By letter to the president
on April 1, 1987, I ended the discussions. At the university, I resisted most
efforts by the PNC to politicize my work. I refused to slant any lectures and
tutorials to reflect favorably on the PNC government. I also declined "instructions"
to cancel an invitation I had extended to opposition leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan
to speak to one of my classes.
Hints For me to Leave Guyana Next, General Secretary Chandisingh twice relayed hints that President Hoyte
would welcome my departure from Guyana. I complained to the president about
such intimidation in the same letter of April 1, 1987. No reply was received.
But when I emigrated to the US in December that year my decision had nothing
significant at all to do with bowing to such pressure. Indeed, precisely to
underscore the point that I cannot be so bullied, I have returned to Guyana
frequently for visits. On each occasion, I have been tailed by security police
and "others" as if I had some criminal intent in visiting my homeland.
Banned from Conference on Afro-Guyanese At this time, my articles critical of the Guyana government were just beginning
to appear in Caribbean Contact. Familiar with PNC politics, I became suspicious
as to the origin of the cable. For the specific purpose of demonstrating to
the regime that Festus Brotherson, Jr. is not some mediocre myrmidon who could
be intimidated, I flew home to Guyana coinciding my visit with the conference.
Dr. Loncke said she was unaware of the cable sent in her name and was genuinely
surprised. A few of my friends were repeatedly questioned and watched by security
personnel during my stay in Guyana. The "best" treatment was reserved for me.
I was followed everywhere I went. On one occasion, a security officer recognising
that I had spotted him, came up and apologised, explaining he was only following
orders.
I am again putting the PNC government on notice that I cannot be intimidated.
I am aware of all the security background checks done on me since I began being
publicly critical of the regime. The only "thing" found is that the PNC government
paid a portion of my wife's medical expenses for a serious heart ailment. Under
specific direction, the immoral new propagandists of the regime have corrupted
that humanitarian gesture in a false claim about having saved my wife's life
and mine when we were "dying." This then brings me to other vulgar falsehoods.
Vulgar Falsehoods About my Wife and Myself My wife, Lurline, was in the United States on a business trip in 1978 when
she suffered a grievous heart condition. Our family had no medical insurance
there because we had cancelled our policies to return to live in Guyana. Following
advice and precedent, I appealed to the PNC government for assistance while
I explored other ways and means of paying the huge hospital bills which were
in excess of US$50,000. The PNC government generously paid US$12,000. The balance
was unpaid for many years. One option explored was taking a second mortgage
on my mother-in-law's home. But the $12,000 grant was the full extent of PNC
assistance. When my wife suffered relapses in 1981 and 1984, and underwent two
more open-heart surgeries, those bills were all paid by our medical insurance.
When I myself underwent major back surgeries in 1984, my bills were also settled
fully by my medical insurance. Earlier, when I had left Guyana in December 1979,
I sought and obtained permission from the Bank of Guyana to obtain a small amount
of foreign exchange to defray medical expenses with my own monies. And around
1981, when I needed more, I applied and was again granted permission to obtain
another but even smaller sum with my own monies. The truth of the matter is
that during the period of ill health in my family very few persons in Guyana
even knew about our plight. The Brothersons have never been paupers or mendicants.
Payment in Foreign Exchange for Diplomatic Work Who Paid for my Graduate Education? Conclusion This statement has been released for the sole purpose of setting the record
straight regarding my past role, functions and relationship with the PNC government.
The details provided were necessary to rebut the more insidious aspects of the
ruling party and government's character assassination campaign against me. Perhaps,
even this detailed response may prove insufficient to halt the PNC's attacks.
However, I am confident that, over time, the consistency and honesty of my
actions, statements, and writings will exonerate me. END
Since I broke publicly from the People's National Congress (PNC) in 1987, the
ruling party has been seeking to discredit my speeches and writings by means
of a campaign designed to falsify my role and relationship with the PNC government.
Recently, the campaign has taken a nasty and more vindictive turn because my
works are being cited in the Guyana parliament by opposition leaders, in the
Caribbean media, in Western Europe, North America, and in other distant lands.
When Forbes Burnham came to power in 1964, I was a fifteen-year-old high school
student preparing to sit General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations.
My period of service with the regime was from June 1977 to December 1979 - a
period of two and one half years, not twenty-one. For every general election
in Guyana - 1973, 1980, and 1985 - I was away from Guyana during the campaigns
and polling, and had no role whatsoever.
I am aware of the tactics commonly used to discredit former senior functionaries.
These have been so very effective that there has not been a single case (except
mine) of any former stalwart openly criticizing the regime once leaving the
organization. My case is different because the PNC government has never been
able to compromise or muzzle my independence. I never stole and had to have
the matter covered up, as was the case with others. I was the owner of my own
houses and cars so that these were not perks that could be taken away or the
threat of such action used to compel me to silence.
Like many persons in the era of the 1970s, I was intoxicated with the rhetoric
of revolution and I genuinely believed in the PNC's policies during my period
of service from June 1977 to December 1979. In retrospect, what contributed
to my outlook was my first long sojourn overseas (1972-1977). This period had
removed me from the local scene and I was out of touch with political events
save for training in the theory of politics learnt in classrooms abroad and
the propaganda fed me about Guyana by the regime during local "orientations."
By 1979, growing wariness with the PNC's ideas and tactics led to disputes and
frictions over what I deemed muddle-headed policies, resulting in my departure
in December of that year.
But it would be dishonest for me to claim that all of my ideas were wholesome.
This was not the case. In retrospect, I deeply regret the role I played in the
banning of the CANA from Guyana in the early 1980s. This was a policy outcome
I had pursued in 1979 before leaving Guyana in December of that year. It was
implemented in my absence. But there is no doubt about the central role I played
in this decision.
My change of views regarding socialism has surprised many in Guyana. This change
did not occur suddenly or recently. It was a gradual process during my second
long sojourn overseas (1980-1985) as I observed contradictions in socialism
between theory and practice. Most importantly, as I engaged in deeper study
and research, I no longer believed the key premise of the ideology - that human
nature is perfectible.
I am frequently asked what is my position regarding Forbes Burnham. For example,
do I prefer him to Desmond Hoyte? I do not prefer Burnham to Hoyte.
All of my adult life I have trained myself for service to my country. Love for
Guyana is the most powerful passion that burns in my bosom.
At no time at all during my association with the PNC party and government have
I ever asked for a specific policymaking position. That was the secret of my
independence.
My most controversial role was as moderator of the Action Line radio programme.
This was a position I was instructed to accept almost as soon as I had returned
to Guyana in 1977. Being a believer in the socialist philosophy in those days,
I warmed to my task after initial annoyance at not being able to decline.
As I was concluding studies for my doctorate in political science in Los Angeles,
in 1984, Forbes Burnham asked me to consider returning home to help restructure
the ruling party. I declined, citing the fact that I vas no longer a Marxist
and could not help in rebuilding a socialist party. Because of my known commitment
to returning to my homeland, informal dialogue continued that year and into
1985 through intermediaries. Among other things, I was assured that my changed
beliefs would not be a major problem since fundamental changes were underway
and more were planned in the party. In early 1985, I agreed to reflect on the
request seriously. However, Burnham died before the matter was resolved.
Mr. Hoyte loved the idea of the biography but felt it insufficient. He said
he wanted me to retain a significant role with the mass media, thus confirming
what had been conveyed to me by intermediaries while I was overseas. He requested
an expanded proposal about the biography project.
Hoyte said he was most upset with the figures. In a meeting in his office on
Monday, October 6, 1986, at which Chandisingh was present, he excoriated the
proposal apparently having "forgotten" that the project had assumed a shape
more reflective of his personal preferences than mine. (While fondly a small
but thick wooden ashtray threateningly) The president displayed a most ferocious
temper and rambled on about matters having very little to do with the project.
I applied to UG for a lectureship. As the process of recruitment was well underway,
I was summoned by the president to his office. Fearing that disobeying the summons,
as was my inclination, would jeopardize the imminent UG appointment and those
who were supporting it, I responded to the summons and met privately with Mr.
Hoyte in his office. I was amazed when the president told he that he was fully
backing my application for appointment at the university, since I knew his role
had been marginal up to that time. He wondered whether I would consider doing
Burnham's biography while at UG. I was non-committal.
Soon, I began to receive threats to my health. And there was one attempted burglary
of my Republic Park home which was very suspicious.
The boldest effort to scare me from returning to Guyana came in July 1988. I
had been asked by the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG, Dr. Joycelyn Loncke, to
give a feature address to the plenary of the Conference on the Origins and Development
of Afro-Guyanese which was being held in Guyana from July 29-31, 1988 under
government auspices. I had agreed while in Guyana and then declined while overseas.
Apparently, my letter indicating the latter was never received. The conference
plans were being closely monitored by the Office of the President. Suddenly,
on or about July 22 (the date of the document is unclear), I received a strange
cable from Dr. Loncke advising me of "inability to accept" my paper, the implication
being I should not return home.
According to one "J. Graham" (writing in the Caribbean Contact) who no one scene
to know, but who apparently has full access to confidential information about
me and my family, (JUST LIKE "RICKFORD BURKE" TODAY), I was very "privileged"
in the PNC because I was able to obtain foreign exchange while based overseas,
and because the PNC government paid my wife's medical expenses. It is alleged
too that the PNC bankrolled my graduate education. What are the facts?
By written agreement, the PNC was supposed to pay me a token monthly US$ sum
of money in Los Angeles for my diplomatic work. I performed minor duties from
1980 to 1985. But during that period the regime was so bankrupt that I was usually
very surprised when I did receive anything at all same months. The PNC government
was so unable to meet this small commitment that I had to press the issue of
back pay as a condition of my return to Guyana (as explained earlier). Even
so, I had to agree to be paid half of what I was owed in Guyana dollars because
the government was impecunious, to put it mildly.
My graduate education was funded by a combination of lucrative scholarships
and teaching and research fellowships I won, tuition waivers and grants received,
and subsidized housing arranged - all by the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA). The PNC had no role whatsoever in funding my graduate education. That
is sheer bunkum! UCLA's help to me has been costed at approximately US$3,000
per month over a five-year period. But the person most responsible for financing
my graduate education was my wife. This gentle woman worked full time, despite
her severe illness, and literally put me through school. It is particularly
despicable that the PNC would attempt to claim that they paid for my graduate
schooling and, by the power of their propaganda, seek to present fiction as
truth. Worse, the PNC appears to believe its own lies - the crowning irony of
despotic authoritarian regimes!
The record will show that my criticisms of the PNC merely continues a tradition
begun in 1977-1979 when I was the regime's insider critic. The big and significant
difference today is that those criticisms are made in public forums and not
in confidential party meetings. But the spirit and thrust of my concerns are
the same. These are given sharper edge not by any bitterness on my part; but
by my disavowal of Marxism.
February 14, 2001
Dear Ex-Dictator.
Why don't you display the courage of your convictions by doing the following:
1. Sign your own name to the putrid bunkum you personally author while signing Burke's name.
2. Confess to gold smuggling through the diplomatic bag in Washington D.C. which was nearly exposed.
3. Unwrap yourself from the sweeping immunities in which you hide under the Guyana constitution you personally wrote with M. Shahabbudeen.
4. Sue me for libel and slander so that I can release the affidavit.
Wonder if you are in it?
Follow steps 3 and 4.
Dr. Festus L. Brotherson, Jr.
Dr. Brotherson is a Guyanese professor of political science and corporate risk-assessment consultant who resides in the USA.