Dear Editor,
I did not know David de Caires. I have never met the late Editor-in-Chief of the Stabroek News. I became acquainted with his name back in the mid to late ’80s when we would wait impatiently for the arrival of Stabroek News on the news stand. It is not a stretch to assert that there is a degree of social distance between ordinary Guyanese like me and this patriotic son of the soil. But neither is it a stretch to assert that his personal convictions and national contributions profoundly and positively impacted and enhanced the existence of all of us. If there was a national award for those who stood tall in the struggle for press freedom, David de Caires would have no one ahead of him in the line of candidates. We in and of Guyana must always cherish the memory of this brother who dared to symbolically raise his fist in the air, and demand that public information be unshackled from the control of the state.
On behalf of my extended family and friends, I would like the loved ones of David de Caires to know that we sincerely empathize with them at this time of their grief. He came into this world as one small insignificant life form, but in his departure he has bequeathed us nationally, a legacy of activism that we should not dare to squander. And this is something in which they can all take great pride at this hour of bereavement. I would urge those who are behind the efforts to widen the scope of information freedom in Guyana to table that motion as the David de Caires FOI Bill. We must not allow the span of time to dim our memories of those who put patriotism above profit and self interest.
Yours faithfully,
Robin Williams
