The last time the West placed sanctions upon Guyana, contrary to what some of its contemporary supporters say, the PNC regime caved and set the stage for Desmond Hoyte’s more free market approach. In 1981, the virulently anti-communist Ronald Reagan came to the presidency of the United States and political and economic pressure were unleashed upon the PNC government to force it to change its ideological stance and political behaviour. By 1985, I had occasion to write that ‘by 1983 the chief ideologue of the party was sent to take up the post of Ambassador to Brazil. At least for the time being, the socialist experiment had ended. (Baber, Colin & Henry Jeffrey (1986) Guyana: Politics, Economics and Society. Frances Pinter, London).