Newly declassified documents emanating from the US Embassy in Guyana in 1980 indicate that evidence at the time, including the aid reportedly given to accused Gregory Smith to leave the country and secure a job with a shrimp company, strongly suggested that head of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Rodney’s death last Saturday, the National Security Archive at The George Washington University published a selection of previously classified cables sent between the American Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana, and the Department of State in Washington, DC, in 1980.
Rodney, an acclaimed historian and political activist, was killed on June 13th, 1980, when a bomb in a walkie-talkie given to him and his brother Donald exploded in a car.