Dear Editor,
The women of Red Thread are saddened at the death of Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief, Mr David de Caires. He was a man who lived his passion for press freedom and who practised what he preached. He was very supportive of our work through his willingness to publish our letters promptly and to give coverage to any activity when asked to do so. One incident especially stands out. We had gone to Venezuela in January 2006 to attend the World Social Forum and when we came back, we wrote a long letter about how inspired we were by the role that grassroots women like ourselves − so-called “ordinary women” − were playing in bringing about real changes in their country. Mr de Caires immediately published the whole letter in a very prominent place and then told one of our coordinators that he didn’t agree with one single word of our praise for the Venezuelan process. The point is, that his disagreement didn’t stop him from publishing our views.
A big problem in Guyana is that so many of us are unwilling to stand up for what we believe in. No one could ever say that about Mr de Caires.
He was a man who fought for what he thought was right, no matter what the consequences were. A recent example was the way he stood up to the Guyana government when they took away the government ads from Stabroek News. His death is a terrible loss for Stabroek News and for all of us in Guyana. We hope it will not hamper the good work of the paper’s reporters and editors, but that they would strive to follow in his footsteps and keep his name alive.
Red Thread extends heartfelt sympathy to the family of Mr de Caires, his friends and the staff of Stabroek News.
Yours faithfully,
Nicola Marcus
Halima Khan
Red Thread
