[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 81 (Friday, June 23, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1106-E1107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO THE NATION OF GUYANA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 23, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on this the 34th anniversary of the 
independence of Guyana, I would like to pay tribute to the government 
and people of the extraordinary nation. Although this year marks the 
34th anniversary of Guyana's independence, it would be misleading to 
assume that Guyana's sense of nationhood only began with the grant of 
independence 34 years ago.
  Guyana's sense of nationhood existed over 500 years ago, among the 
Amerindian tribes that inhabited its tropical rainforest. It existed 
among the African warriors such as Kofi, Attah, Accabree, who launched 
their war of liberation in 1763. It existed among Indian indentured 
workers such as Rambarran, Pooran, Harry, and Surajballi who forfeited 
their lives in the struggle to improve working conditions on the sugar 
plantations.
  Nationalism has existed in the literature of the Guyanese people. It 
has existed in the poetry of Martin Carter and Arthur Seymour; in the 
novels of Edgar Mittelholzer, Wilson Harris and Jan Carew; in the 
patriotic music of R.G.G. Potter, Valery Rodway, and Halley Bryant; in 
the rhythm of the Indian Tassa drums and the African bongos drums; and 
the call and response of the Guyanese folk songs.
  Nature has been generous to the nation of Guyana. It has endowed her 
with an extensive network of over 40 rivers and creeks, and over 276 
waterfalls, including Kaieteur Falls, which has a direct perpendicular 
drop of 741 feet. The land is richly endowed with natural resources--
fertile agricultural lands; extensive savannahs; rich fishing and 
shrimping grounds; over 500 species of tropical hardwoods including 
greenheart, mora, baromalli, purpleheart, and crabwood, and a wide 
variety of minerals including gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, 
titanium, columbite/tantalite, copper and nickel.
  In spite of its rich history of struggle and extensive natural 
resources, Guyana faces formidable political, social and economic 
problems. In the 1950s, Guyana had one of the most progressive 
movements in the Caribbean, based upon the principles of Guyanese 
nationalism and socialism. However, in 1955 the political movement 
split, ushering in two decades of racial antagonism. Racial divisions 
have stymied economic development, creating an environment of 
instability and uncertainty. In spite of an impressive growth rate 
during the last decade, Guyana still remains one of the poorest and 
least developed nations in the Western hemisphere.
  The Guyanese people are a resourceful, gifted and resilient people 
who are capable of confronting and overcoming the formidable problems 
that confront them. The historian Rodway described agricultural 
cultivation in Guyana as a daily struggle with the sea in front and the 
flood behind. The historian Walter Rodney has noted how the African 
slaves built the sugar plantations by moving ``one hundred million tons 
of heavy water-logged clay with shovel in hand, while enduring 
conditions of perpetual water and mud.'' The historian Eusi Kaywana has 
noted that the Berbice rebellion of 1763 predated the American 
Revolution of 1776, the French Revolution of 1789, the French 
Revolution of 1791, the Paris commune of 1848 and the Russian 
Revolution of 1917.
  Ironically, the policy of the U.S. government has been one of 
suspicion and hostility towards the governments of Guyana. We conspired 
with the British in 1960 to suspend the constitution, and to 
destabilize the government of Cheddie Jagan between 1957 and 1964. When 
President Burnham implemented socialist policies in the 1970s, we 
discouraged U.S. foreign investment, bilateral aid and multilateral 
loans to Guyana.
  It is time for the U.S. government to change its policy towards the 
nation of Guyana. Guyana has become an attractive location for foreign 
investment. There is a stable political environment that is committed 
to private enterprise; there is a system of Parliamentary democracy 
with free elections and an independent Judiciary; there is a 
substantial natural resource base; there has been radical

[[Page E1107]]

and substantial economic growth over the last decade; there is 
preferential access to the Caribbean, Latin America, North America and 
European markets; there is a skilled and trainable labor force 
proficient in the English language. Guyana is an investment opportunity 
whose time has come.

                          ____________________