Saturday, March 8, 1997

Jagan, champion of the poor, is dead

GEORGETOWN (Reuter)-Guyana yesterday mourned charismatic President Cheddi Jagan, who died in a Washington hospital of heart failure after a rich political career spanning five decades.

Jagan, whom US President Bill Clinton hailed as "a champion of the poor," died early in the day at Walter Reed Army hospital, where he had undergone heart surgery to clear a blocked artery after being flown to the United States on February 15.

His 76-year-old American-born wife, Janet Jagan, their two children-son Cheddi Jagan Jr and daughter Nadira- five grandchildren and other close family members were at his bedside when he died.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, 53, was swiftly sworn in as president by Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard in a brief and simple ceremony yesterday morning.

The Oath of Office was administered by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Cecil Kennard in the Credentials Room of the Presidential Secretariat.

Present were Speaker of the National Assembly Derek Jagan, ministers of the government, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force Brigadier Joe Singh and Commissioner of Police Laurie Lewis.
Accompanying Hinds were his wife Yvonne and their three children.

"The greatest son and patriot that has ever walked this land has departed," Hinds said.
Hinds is a chemical engineer by profession and a leading member of the civic component of Jagan's PPP/Civic administration. He was born in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara on December 27, 1943.

He had been acting as President since the internationally known former head of state and once fierce Marxist politician suffered a heart attack on February 14 at his official residence, State House.
In 1992 Hinds became Prime Minister with substantive responsibility for Public Works and Communications after he contested the general elections as "running mate" of Jagan, who headed the PPP/Civic Alliance.

According to the Guyana constitution, the Prime Minister automatically assumes office as President in the event of either death of the holder of the office or due to "physical or mental infirmity".
Sources close to the Presidential Secretariat in Georgetown told CANA that Hinds as President "could be viewed as a first step in a transition process".

This was an official hint that new procedures would follow for a leading PPP parliamentarian to eventually take over as President leading up to fresh general election not later than March 1998, and possibly earlier.

Jagan's funeral was "tentatively" set for Tuesday at his birthplace, Port Mourand, about 90 miles (145 km) east of Georgetown, Information Minister Moses Nagamootoo told Reuters.

Jagan, the son of a sugarcane worker, will be cremated there "at the wishes of his relatives," Nagamootoo said, though he did not rule out a change of plans "for this state funeral and for security reasons," a reference to the expected presence of foreign dignitaries.

Jagan's body is to be flown back to Georgetown tomorrow.

A one-time Marxist who would have turned 79 on March 22, Jagan had led his left-leaning People's Progressive Party to a striking victory at the polls in October 1992- Guyana's first democratic elections in 28 years. Political sources said the interim administration could symbolically choose October 5-five years after Jagan's triumph-for the new elections.

As a general feeling of gloom gripped Georgetown, the capital, radio stations played sombre music and flags flew at half-staff on official buildings. People wore black armbands or pieces of black cloth in a sign of mourning.

Tributes started to pour in. Clinton said in a written statement he learned of Jagan's death with "deep regret" and said he was "a champion of the poor who devoted himself to alleviating poverty in his country and throughout the Caribbean."

One of Clinton's predecessors, Jimmy Carter, who visited Georgetown last year, said from Atlanta that Jagan would be "fondly remembered for his leadership and his struggle for Guyana's independence."

"President Jagan died at 12.23 a.m.," Hinds said in declaring six days of official mourning. "That extraordinary light that shone in Guyana and the world for nearly 79 years has been extinguished. The greatest son and patriot that has ever walked this land has departed."

Under Jagan's leadership Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, enjoyed a relative economic boom. He reluctantly embraced the free market system, admitting "there is no alternative" for his impoverished country.

Diplomats and political sources predicted no change in economic policies as the country continued to woo foreign investors to tap vast resources in mining, forestry and agriculture.

Jagan, the author of a wealth of books on Caribbean history and a respected intellectual, became Guyana's first prime minister after then-British Guiana was granted self-government in 1961. He was deposed three years later after race riots.

Jagan was born on March 22, 1918, and qualified as a dentist in the United States, where he married Janet Rosenberg of Chicago, a relative of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 for espionage.