British Guiana: Independence Ahead

After 162 years of colonial rule, British Guiana will soon be going its own independent way. In London last week, following 17 days of talks with Guianese leaders, Colonial Secretary Anthony Greenwood announced that the small South American colony will gain its independence on May 26, 1966.

Perched on the continent's northeast shoulder, British Guiana has a lot going for it: major bauxite deposits, rich timberlands, a benign, well-watered climate for rice and sugar cane. Yet until a year ago, it was all London could do to maintain law and order, let alone grant independence. Under rabble-rousing Marxist Premier Cheddi Jagan, British Guiana's 295,000 East Indians and 190,000 Negroes were engaged in a vicious racial feud that only the presence of British troops prevented from becoming outright civil war. Then in new elections last December, Negro Attorney Forbes Burnham came to power, formed a coalition government, and put the colony back on the road to progress.

Jagan continues trying to stir the old racial fires, went so far as to boycott the constitutional conference. Burnham merely ignores him, and with Finance Minister Peter D'Aguiar, head of a small multiracial party, has helped work out a constitution that offers the hope of a prosperous, stable and democratic future. Elections will be held under a system of proportional representation. To broaden the government base even more, the Prime Minister will be required to consult with the opposition on such matters as key appointments in public service and the judiciary. Guyana, as the new nation will call itself, intends to remain a member of the British Commonwealth—and hopefully join the OAS family of hemisphere nations.