Guyana
Guyana is a constitutional republic in northern South America. It has an area of 214,970 square kilometers (83,000 square miles) and an estimated population of 702,100. Once a Dutch colony, Guyana was ruled by Great Britain from the early nineteenth century until 1966, when it gained its independence. Since that time the country has experienced both political stability and instability, the latter influenced by racially driven politics and episodes of authoritarian rule, which dominated most of the almost two decades of rule by Forbes Burnham (1923–1985). Burnham was a charismatic leader, as was his nemesis, Cheddi Jagan (1918–1997), who won the presidency in 1992 in what is considered the country's first free and fair election after independence. Upon Jagan's death in 1997, he was succeeded by his wife Janet Jagan (b. 1920), who resigned in 1999 because of poor health. Her successor, Bharrat Jagdeo (b. 1964), was reelected in 2001. As of 2005 he headed the executive branch, and his People's Progressive Party-Civic (PPP-Civic) party commanded the majority of seats in the sixty-eight-member unicameral National Assembly.
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/THE GALE GROUP)Although only five parties are represented in parliament, several other political parties exist, including the Alliance for Guyana; the Guyana Labor Party; the Working People's Alliance; the Guyana Action Party; the People's National Congress/Reform; Rise, Organize, and Rebuild; the United Force; and the ruling PPP-Civic. The judiciary, at the top of which sits the Supreme Court, is independent-minded and forms the third branch of government. Civil and political rights are constitutionally guaranteed but often violated by the police and other authorities. The legal system is based on English common law with certain features of Roman-Dutch law. The governmental bureaucracy revolves around ministries led by government ministers on the political side and permanent secretaries as heads of the professional civil service. There also are numerous government corporations, boards, and commissions.
Political mismanagement, ideologically driven destabilization by foreign powers, corruption, and inefficiency have combined to produce a situation in which Guyana, although it possesses considerable natural resources—including gold, bauxite, diamonds, and rich agricultural lands—is the third poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, behind Haiti and Nicaragua. According to 2003 statistics, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was a mere $920, and GDP growth from 2000 has averaged 1.4 percent. The nation faces massive foreign debt, $1.2 billion at the end of 2003, despite debt relief from the United States, Canada, Britain, and some multilateral lending institutions. Almost one-third of the population lives in poverty. Hence, remittances from nationals living abroad, especially those in the United States, Canada, and Britain, are critical for both the survival of thousands of citizens and the buoyancy of the national economy, given the boost in foreign exchange that occurs with remittances.
A crisis in public security developed in the early twenty-first century. Murders and other violent crimes rose, and kidnappings for ransom continue to be a burgeoning criminal enterprise. Despite the combined use of the army and the police in anticrime efforts, the lack of manpower, equipment, training, and intelligence that security forces face has prevented them from adequately addressing the situation. In 2003 the resulting climate of fear had begun to affect foreign investment. It also led to an increase in the number of private security agencies, which created a balloon effect, shifting some of the crime from various parts of the nation to other areas.
Caribbean Region; Colonies and Colonialism.
Bibliography
Burnett, Graham D. Masters of All They Surveyed: Exploration, Geography, and a British El Dorado. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Griffith, Ivelaw L. "Political Change, Democracy, and Human Rights in Guyana." Third World Quarterly 18, no. 2 (1997):267–285.
Guyana News and Information. <http://www.guyana.org/>.
Mars, Joan. R. 2002. Deadly Force, Race, Colonialism, and the Rile of Law: Police Violence in Guyana. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Seecoomar, Judaman. Contributions Towards the Resolution of Conflict in Guyana. Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree, 2002.
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