Dear Editor,
The removal of Marxism–Leninism and reference to the objective of building a Socialist Guyana marks a radical change in the life of the People’s Progressive Party and indeed of the country.
At its very foundation the PPP set as its goals, first independence and eventually the building of a socialist Guyana. The meaning of a Socialist Guyana is explicit, at that stage the working class would be the dominant force in the Government.
Of course, being realistic, it was always known that our society was underdeveloped and lacked the conditions to build a socialist society anytime soon. This became even more manifest after the collapse of the Eastern European Socialist countries in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. That is why at the last Congress that Dr. Jagan attended in 1994 he spoke about the building of a National Democratic State in which all the legitimate classes would be involved. For the party it was important to ensure that the working class was not dominated or placed in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis the local and foreign capitalist class.
He spoke about developing flexible tactics but not to lose sight of the long-term objectives. Thus, he uttered the famous phrase that we must learn to walk between the raindrops. He urged that the Party hold on to its principles while developing flexible tactics in maneuvering in the changed conditions.
The PPP always had in its leadership from the beginning, Marxists in prominent positions. Now that umbilical cord has been broken the Party has embraced “ideological pluralism”. And its goal is no longer socialism but one described as “pro-poor” (even though Marxism always had as an objective the elimination of poverty).
The arguments for this break are that times and circumstances have changed and Marxism is no longer relevant. That socialism is no longer the goal of the Party.
It is true that things have changed, however it does not imply that Marxism has lost its relevance. In fact in the very complicated world we live in we need a socio-economic theory to guide us in the maze of complexities and Marxist methodology is still far superior than any other theory in vogue today. There is the famous axiom that ‘theory without practice is useless and practice without theory is blind”.
What therefore are the changes that have caused the Party’s abandonment of its fundamental underpinnings?
This new position is a reflection of the weakening influence of the working class in our country’s socio-economic and political life. Organised labour has been in crisis for sometime now. Since 1953 the TUC was captured by the colonial masters and was turned into a force to fight against independence. It allowed itself to become more of a racist body to divide the working class. That position is still in place. Just look at the letters of the leaders of the TUC in our newspapers and you will get an eye and ear full of racism. That organization seems more interested in putting the racist, corrupt and incompetent PNC in power. Not only the objective of the working class becoming the ruling class is abandoned by the TUC but the immediate economic interest has been tossed aside. The TUC is one of the main instruments that has kept the working class divided since the early 1960’s. The TUC has consistently refused to deomocratise its rules and its leaders have become labour bureaucrats, living off the working people.
The other section of the working class mainly the sugar workers which played an outstanding role in the struggles for independence and for democracy is now literally on its back. The sugar industry is in deep crisis and has lost its position as the most important sector in the economy.
Moreover, the ideological leadership has been greatly weakened due to persons passing on and the absence of workers education which was a prominent feature of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union.
The rate of the decline of the working-class influence is matched by the sharp rise of the influence of the capitalist class, both local and foreign. The local capitalists are already playing junior partners to the more powerful foreign capital.
That is reflected in the high prominence which private capital gets from government. Their importance to the administration is often emphasized at every level of government.
Added to this is the greater attention or focus by the most powerful capitalist states on Guyana. That has its origins with the discovery of oil. The many high-profile visits from the US is a demonstration of our country’s new found importance.
One of the main purposes of the embassies of those developed states is to protect and promote the interests of the huge corporations that are citizens of their own countries. Their influence in societies like ours must never be underestimated.
It is time for our working people to take stock of where they are. It seems that the struggle will be long and hard to re-establish their influence. Very important in the future will be the ideological struggle. In this new stage Marxism-Leninism has a central role to play in analysing the maze of information out there in our country and the world.
Now that the PPP has embraced ideological pluralism, this debate will grow in importance.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
