A request in 1978 by the Government of Guyana (GoG) to the US for the purchase of 14,500 tear gas grenades and projectiles raised concerns in Washington that this was not a routine transaction and reflected fears of unrest associated with the approaching referendum and declining economic conditions.
Released by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, a May 11, 1978 cable from the US State Department to its Georgetown Embassy noted that it had an export licence for the tear gas worth US$140,000 under review.
It said that the prospective purchase was unusually large and “seems to point to GoG’s fears that serious unrest and street demonstrations may occur connected to the constitutional referendum as well as the worsening economic conditions”.
The cable, in the name of then Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said that the use by authorities of this material to pursue constitutional changes and thereby affect the electoral process with implications for Guyana’s human rights record inclined the department towards disapproving the application. The cable asked for an embassy assessment of the situation.
The embassy’s May 17, 1978 response to Vance acknowledged the State Department’s concerns but advised that the sale proceed.
The US Embassy here said “we fully share the department’s concern that Guyanese Government’s request to purchase tear gas may reflect official estimate that serious economic problems coupled with government’s highly controversial political proposals to establish a new constitution may lead to serious civil unrest in coming months.”
The embassy said that the recent use of tear gas at Linden against strikers on May 4, 1978 was currently being investigated by a range of groups including the police and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The cable cited another less-publicised use of tear gas at Golden Grove “involving a stampede for scarce commodities outside a government food outlet.” The embassy said that it was not in a position to render a critical judgment on whether the use of tear gas was justified in either case.
The embassy cable stated that the Guyanese police were modelled after the British and had maintained “an essentially apolitical record which remains largely intact today” and that the force probably required a stock of tear gas for their usual inventory.
Considering that the US had been a traditional supplier of tear gas to the police force here, the embassy said that it saw no reason to interrupt this unless the amount was considered excessive and that another supplier had turned down the request.
The cable also said that if the sale was denied the fact would come to the attention of government officials including Prime Minister Forbes Burnham “who will be likely to interpret the refusal as part of a destabilization effort directed at his regime.
The “destabilization” theme is being given wider currency these days and was sounded again by (Burnham) himself in his May 13 press conference.”
