The masterminds are not from Buxton

Posted October 31st. 2002

In a letter to the Stabroek News Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye says in part " I am 100% certain that if the President and his party do the correct thing, that is if they summon the will and go to Buxton they will be given a hearing and their meeting will be as peaceful as the one Mr. Hoyte and the PNC/R held. Having said this I must add that it would be very unwise and self-defeating for the ruling party to believe that it can talk Buxton out of resistance and struggle. The leadership of the Buxton resistance in many ways is as sophisticated as any political leadership in the country. They know when to engage and when to disengage."

Since this opinion in the public press concerns a little spot where I have lived for 70 of my 77 years, perhaps too long in the opinion of many, I dare to make a few timid comments on his bold and confident declarations. He assures President Jagdeo that the PPP/C should go to Buxton and assures him that provided they are polite they will get a peaceful hearing, as Mr. Hoyte and the PNC did. May I remind Brother Ogunseye that he and Dr. Hinds spoke at a WPA meeting on the night before the March 2001 elections and that a crowd of about one hundred was all that they could muster. True, it was a peaceful wake. Mr. Ogunseye may be right in his opinion.

For myself, I declined to speak at any election meeting at that election because it was clear to me where the crowds were heading and why. Yet I was a WPA polling agent next day in the village. The PPP/C held its Congress in August at Rose Hall, which, unlike Buxton is a PPP stronghold. Please recall that the last night of the Congress brought tragedy to Rose Hall. I was in the USA, but whoever thought that the motive of that armed party which landed by boat at Rose Hall was robbery has not begun to think.

That landing was clearly not an act of "the people of Rose Hall". So too, it is not a matter of what "the people of Buxton". will do. It has always been an indefinite number of younger men from Buxton without a doubt, and also from elsewhere, organized by masterminds, around a core of criminal suspects and convicted persons. Buxton had nothing direct to do with Rose Hall, but it is my opinion, from a series of signals, that the same masterminds who fan the flames at Buxton were more directly involved at Rose Hall. The dynamics of the situation are no longer hidden. In this country the associates of those master-minds have said openly to others that Buxton is their base.

This means Buxton is being used by this "sophisticated political leadership", against the interest of her people. I hope Mr.Ogunseye is not part of any plot to tempt a high official into our village, so that if some crazy plan is attempted, Buxton will get the full weight of the blame.

The "sophisticated leadership" will rejoice at that, as their cleverness will allow their own blame to be cast on others. Political "loneliness" has never bothered me. Mr. Ogunseye should not strain readers' trust by talking as if the "sophisticated political leadership" at Buxton is of Buxton origin. Mr. Blair, whom I am naming for the first time, in case he is capable of redemption, is not his own master. Wise, innocent Buxtonians of all ages exist, but they are not controlling what happens there.

The control is in the hands of "sophisticated " leaders from outside. Those young men with guns are being used and it seems that they are either paid, or are told to pay themselves. They are "sophisticated". Yet, except for Benschop from prison they say not one word against the very, very ugly attacks on innocent persons, first of another race, and now of any race. Is that what Mr. Ogunseye calls "resistance"?

I will guess where they are sophisticated. I have nothing at this stage to say about the remarks reported from the Hon. Leader of the Opposition. His speech has already drawn more attention to his credit as a witness than I would have wished to do. However, I may have to examine his role, and the role of the ruling party and of His Excellency the President before long.

As for Mr.Ogunseye's more recent claim that he is carrying out the work of Walter Rodney, I remind him only of Rodney's funeral procession, which began at Buxton-Annandale and included people of all races. Since my marriage (1971) to a born USA citizen I have not applied for a green card.

I am only now thinking of it. Soon I shall have to be seeking permission to prolong my stay here. Buxton is the only place in Guyana where I have living arrangements within my capacity. Not one of my friends, here or at home, thinks I should rush home because of the pattern of events and the mind-set of Mr. Ogunseye's "resistance". And I do not want to be there under the protection of the self-styled Taliban. Mr. Lye's play on the "dogs of war" as applied to people in combat is really very old. He should realise now what we mean by war propaganda.