Dr Jagan was not a communist

Dr Jagan was not a communist.

Dr. Jagan was not a communist, and any attempt to place him in a communist camp is a misunderstanding of the ideology. Dr. Jagan was a Marxist.

Marxism is the foundation for Communist states, therefore all Communists are Marxist but not all Marxist are Communists. Marxism deals more with liberation and addressing the plights of the poor and Communism deals with the misguided concept loosely associated with government and equality.

Many of Dr. Jagan Marxist ideas were incorporated into his New Global Human Order which was passed by the United Nations General Assembly on the 22^nd of November 2002. Dr. Jagan called for a New Global Human Order in his speech at the World Summit for Social Development in 1995.

Even politicians get this mixed up, intentionally or unintentionally … you decide.

Clive Thomas said “In particular he (Dr. Jagan) also applied the "official" thesis of Soviet communism about the nature and policies for Third World societies to Guyana. Thus, he was a strong upholder of the ""non-capitalist path of development." (Monthly Review Press, 1988)

In reality Dr. Jagan did not adopt the "official" thesis of Soviet communism, but rather the Soviet communism adopts the Marxist thesis.

The New York Times reported Dr Jagan said, “I was a Gorbachev even before Gorbachev, in the sense of what we were doing and not adopting the traditional dogmas of Marxist parties," of course referring to Mikhail Gorbachev who granted personal freedoms to the people of Russia and orchestrated the collapse of the Soviet Union which was held together by Communism.

US President John F. Kennedy denied accusations that the US was meddling in the affairs of Guyana. He stated: “The United States supports the idea that every people should have the right to make a free choice of the kind of government they want. Mr. Jagan, who is recently elected Prime Minister in British Guiana, is a Marxist but the United States does not object because that choice was made by honest election, which he won.” (CJ Research Center 1999).

“Jagan is not a Communist but rather a naïve London School of Economics Marxist filled with charm, personal honesty and juvenile nationalism” according to Schlesinger (JFK Special Assistant) in his book: A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House.

It is also fair to note that U.S officials did call Dr. Jagan a Communist, many in secret (that later became declassified). It is also very important to note that the U.S was in a red scare and suffered from McCarthyism only a few years earlier where innocent people were persecuted after being accused of being a Communist. The term McCarthyism got its name from Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the witch hunt against those so called Communists.

Undoubtedly many within the old PPP were Communists, including Mrs. Jagan (who later gave up these ideas as was proven by her term as Executive Leader), but Dr. Jagan is a Marxist.

The greatest proof that Dr. Jagan was not a communist come from one of his quotes at Jagan.org where he said, "The word “Communism” means different things to different people. This explains why I have consistently refused to answer “yes” or “no” to the question. The term Marxist is a more apt description of my position."

Thank you,

Asif Mohamed