A look at how the British undermined democracy in British Guiana when it ousted Dr Jagan

Mike Thomson investigates how Britain covertly manipulated the democratic process in its South American colony, then known as British Guiana, in the run-up to its independence in 1966. Mike discovers new documents showing that a conference held to determine the country's future was deliberately scuppered.
On the face of it, the conference, held in London in October 1963, was designed to confirm the constitutional future of British Guiana. Publicly Britain encouraged the country's Prime Minister Dr Cheddi Jagan – who had been fairly elected in 1961 – and the leader of the opposition, Linden Forbes Burnham, to agree terms for independence. However, documents reveal that, behind the scenes, the British were working to a different outcome – to ensure that agreement was never reached.
The British, under pressure from the Kennedy administration which feared Dr Jagan's Marxist leanings, were determined that he would not lead the country to independence. To this end they suggested a form of proportional representation in forthcoming elections, knowing full well that Dr Jagan would not agree to these terms as they would favour his rival. When the conference ended in deadlock, as the British hoped it would, proportional representation was duly implemented and the following year Dr Jagan was ousted, much to the relief of the superpowers.

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