Exclusive interview with Cheddi Jagan

How the PNC rigged

the Guyana referendum

To avoid calling a general elec-
tion in October of this year, the
People’s National Congress
government of Forbes Burnham
last week held a referendum qe-
Signed to give his government a
blank cheque to change the coun-
try’s constitution and to per-
petuate authoritarian rule by a
small minority. The referendum,
which was opposed by the major-
ity of Guyanese, took place amid
charges of rigging and police
State tactics.

The Tribune interviewed Dr.
Cheddi Jagan, leader of the
People’s Progressive Party by
telephone July 12 and received
the following account of these
dramatic events:

* * *

The referendum boycott was a
tremendous success in that
people obeyed the call of the
People’s Progressive Party (PPP)
which was working in the Com-
mittee in Defence of Democracy.
This committee and a Citizen’s
Committee jointly called for a
boycott. These two committees
represented the major portion of
our people.

The evidence was there for all
to see. The polling stations across
the country were completely de-
serted. In answer, the govern-
ment, toward the end of voting
day, carried their members by
buses, cars and jeeps from one
polling place to another so they
could vote more than once. In this
way they tried to show a bigger
turnout.

The government, thereby,
claimed a turnout of 70-95%. We
estimate a turnout of from 10 to
15%. In some polls nobody voted.

The People’s National Con-
gress (PNC) wanted two things in
this election: oe :

They wanted a_ two-thirds
majority to justify the two-thirds
they have in the present parlia-
ment which was stolen in the last
election. This would give them

the authority to write a new con-
stitution. Secondly, they wanted
a large turmout to claim they
speak for the majority of
Guyanese.

The boycott frustrated their
plans. Had the boycott not been
called the PNC simply would
have hijacked the ballot boxes
and changed ‘‘no”’ votes to ‘‘yes”’
ones. The boycott caught them by
surprise and they were forced to
use other techniques such as bus-
sing supporters to ‘“‘re-cycle”’ the
vote, compelling government
workers to vote, utilizing more
proxy and postal voting where
they could vote in place of those
who stayed away.

Goon Tactics

The opposition forces attemp-
ted to show that people were not
voting by making a check inside
and outside polling stations.

First, the government waited
until one or two days before the
vote to publish information about
the polling places thus preventing
us from submitting our lists in
time. Where we found the Return-
ing Officer we sent people to con-
duct a check.

Here they were met by goons
and thugs. People were driven
away and some beaten up. Per-
sons observing from outside were
also beaten. A PPP MP was
beaten and required 10 stitches,
and his camera was taken. This
also happened to the chairman of
the Liberation Party who was fol-
lowing a vehicle on its way to the
third polling station~ taking
government supporters to vote
over and over again.

Police and Army

The Police and army were out
on the streets protecting the
thugs. In fact they chased two of
our people through the streets to
our headquarters and I personally
had to intervene. The soldiers had
their guns pointed at our com-
rades and were searching them.
In this way we rescued the cam-

era from being seized. Opposition
parties were refused time on radio
and in the government-controlled
press which became vehicles for
PNC propaganda.

No Mandate

It’s clear the government. has
no mandate to re-write the con-
stitution. But their intention is
immediately to call parliament
and pass a new law to postpone
the election and to ‘‘christen’’ the
present members as a ‘‘Con-
stituent Assembly’’ who will pre-
pare a constitution and make the
prime minister a president with
unlimited powers.

A future parliament will then
have not only elected members
but also appointed members. The
president will have a veto like
former colonial governments
here.

This ‘‘restructuring’’ of the
constitution will permit the PNC
with unlimited powers to remain

in government indefinitely. This |

was made necessary for them be-
cause they are unable to rig elec-
tions as in the past. They there-
fore are returning to a system we

had in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 3
past two general elections they |

rigged the vote. Now they will

‘change the constitution because

they cannot guarantee winning
the new election.
Mass Opposition

This referendum was met with
mass ‘opposition. The - main
unions called strikes and advsied
their members not to vote. This.
opposition is very significant be-
cause it went far beyond tradi-
tional PPP support and included
the working class, farmers, mid-
dle strata, doctors, engineers,
etc., who came out in their major-
ity against the referendum.

In addition the main Christian,
Hindu and Muslim church bodies
opposed the referendum. We can
say that the government does not
have more than 20% public sup-
port today.

Murder, Nickel and Profits
are realities in Guatemala

On May 29, in the Guatemalan
town of Panzos, 114 men, women
and children were gunned down
by Guatemalan army troops in the
latest government drive to evict
people from lands some 80 miles
north of the capital, Guatemala
City.

The murders were a culmina-
tion of two years’ attempts to
clear native people from the ter-
ritories in Quiche and Alta Ver-
apaz provinces. At stake are the
lands which have been inhabited
by Kekchi and Quiche Mayan In-
dians for centuries and which now
have been found to be rich in oil
and nickel deposits. _

In a country where 2% of the
population already owns 62% of
the arable land, the speculators
began buying up more and more
land in preparation for the coming
bonanza. The politicians, the rich
and the military were the main
purchasers and there are now ter-
ritories called ‘“‘the zone of the
generals’’.

In May, tens of thousands
turned out in protest. They in-
cluded the dispossed who now
live as squatters, students, mem-
bers of religious groups, lawyers
and unionists. Repeated requests

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—July 21, 1978—Page 6

by the Indians to discuss the prob-
lem were met with threats of
force. On May 29, 700-Kekchi
Indians gathered in the village
square of Panzos. They came,
women carrying babies, men car-
rying tools, to hand a petition to
the mayor.

Soldiers in ambush fired from
everywhere. People were shot
down on the streets, other fied
wounded. Five women holding
babies jumped into the Polochi
River and drowned. The govern-

ment said 38 died. Catholic

Church workers prepared a pro-
visiorfal list of 114 dead. The Red

Cross said they were unsure of

the figure.

Guatemala’s Mayan descen-
dants number 3.5 million of the
country’s 6.3 million population.
Most work tiny patches of land or
work on large estates for 25-cents
a day, According to government
figures, 80% of Mayan children
under five suffer from malnutri-
tion and most adults do not speak
Spanish, let alone read or write.

Added to this misery and de-
gradation is now the murder, ter-
ror and tensions caused by the
drive for oil and nickel.

Canadians will.note that Inco,
which pulled out of Sudbury and
elsewhere with the resulting loss
of some 9,500 jobs, are active in
Indonesia and Guatemala.

Inco owns 80% of Exmibal, a
$224-million nickel plant in
Guatemela. The corporation be-
gan negotiations with the military
regime there years ago and one
key demand was the need for
“‘political stability’’ in the area to
protect investment. By 1970,
some 3,000 persons had been kil-
led in ‘‘pacification’’ campaigns,

and in 1971 Exmibal signed the ©

agreement.

Workers at Exmibal will be
paid approximately 98-cents per
hour. The company agréed to pay
half the usual 53% tax on mining
operations for the first five years
of operations and three-quarters
the usual rate for the next five
years.

Fears at the time that the re-
gime would step up its terror
campaign in the country to pro-
tect foreign investment (Exmibal
is the largest single foreign
investment in Guatemala) have
been realized with the latest wave
of murders.

_MOSCOW — The 70th birthday of Chilean president Salvador Allende;
murdered in the 1973 fascist coup, was marked by the Soviet people in 4
ceremony at Friendship House here June 27. Speaking at the meeting is
Luis Corvalan, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile.

SOUTH AFRICANS ARE JAILED FOR ASKING PAY RAISE |
“PRETORIA — According to South African law, an African worker
can be fined up to $1,400 and jailed for up to three years for taking part
ina strike for any reason, according to the United Nations’ publication,
‘Apartheid in Practice’, Any worker who suggests to others they
should strike for higher pay, even if they do not, can be fined up to $700
and jailed for three years.

YALE WILL CONTINUE ITS SOUTH AFRICAN TIES
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale University trustees said last week
they have decided not to sell the university’s $175-million stock in 69
U.S. corporations doing business in South Africa.

WALDHEIM CALLS FOR RECONVENING OF GENEVA
CONFERENCE
GENEVA — Speaking here July 6, United Nations secretary-
general Kurt Waldheim called for the reconvening of the Geneva

. Mideast conference and said he was sceptical about any other way °

solving the current crisis. He was speaking directly to the up-coming
Egyptian-Israeli talks scheduled for London and said that preparations
should begin now for reconvening the Geneva talks. The Geneva
Conference, with the USSR and USA as co-chairmen, met once in
1973 and has been stalled ever since by U.S.-Israeli opposition which
aims to exclude the Soviet Union and the Palestine Liberation Organi-
zation from any settlement.

U.S. UNIONS BLOCK BOMB SHIPMENTS TO CHILE
NEW YORK — The International Longshoremen’s and Ware-
housemén’s Union (ILWU) and International Longshoremen’s AS-
sociation (ILA) have refused to load 22,000 pounds of bomb fin as-
semblies destined for Chile. This action, according to opponents of the
junta, has been credited with playing a large role in the recent recalling
of the U.S. ambassador from Chile.

State Department officials say the ambassador was recalled because —

of Chile’s failure to cooperate in the investigation under way into the
murder of Orlando Letelier. In a statement prior to the boycott, ILWU
president James Herman said the union hopes the U.S. will re-examiné

its relations with the ‘‘brutal regime’’ which is ‘responsible for the -

imprisonment, death or disappearance of thousands ...”’

TAKING A SLAM AT BRITISH TORY HYPOCRISY

LONDON — The Manchester Guardian, July 2, took a slam at the -

hypocrisy displayed by Tories in Parliament over the reaction in the
Commons to the killings in Zimbabwe of 12 British subjects. ‘‘It is right
to recall’’, wrote the Guardian, ‘‘that six weeks ago 50 Rhodesian
villagers were killed by security forces ... and that no demands were
made.’’ The paper says that Tory claims that the deaths taking place in
the country are due to British government unwillingness to opt for
Smith’s internal settlement ‘‘betrays a misunderstanding of what the
fighting is about.”

Liberation forces in Zimbabwe have denied responsibility for the
killing of foreign civilians charging consistently that these murders are
conducted by Smith’s forces in an effort to whip up anti-liberation
feelings and to sell Smith’s plan. ~