Nerint Guyana and Suriname
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NERINT 2009 GUYANA AND SURINAME: ANOTHER SOUTH AMERICA Paulo Fagundes Visentini 1 Translation: Raquel Tebaldi2 Guyana and Suriname are the two newest and less populated States of South America and are amongst the ones with least territorial dimension. Moreover, both are characterized by an extremely complex and diverse ethnic-cultural composition, by different idioms than the rest of the south-American countries and by an insertion directed towards the Caribbean and, still, in a certain measure, towards their former metropoles. These are countries still fragilely connected to its terrestrial neighbors and, despite possessing large productive possibilities (especially on the mineral and energetic sectors), the economy is still rudimentary and in need of transport and energy infra- structure. All of this allow us to characterize them as “another South America”, distinct from the countries from the River Plate region or from the Andean States. In this context, they represent, therefore, a challenge to the Brazilian foreign policy and a kind of “new frontier” of the south-American integration process. Besides, the short period of independent life (Guyana four decades and Suriname three decades) was characterized by a strong political instability. Authoritarian regimes and experiences with alternative models, in midst of the economic decay, were alternated with fragile parliamentary democracies, marked by a low rate of governability, by the parties fragmentation and, many times, by the administrative semi-paralysis of the State. On the external area there are also some serious problems, for both countries have the most severe and long-lasting border disputes of South America: Guyana-Venezuela, Guyana- Suriname and Suriname-French Guiana. Moreover, the diplomacy met, shortly after the independence, an erratic line marked by ruptures. 1 Paulo G.Fagundes Visentini. Professor of International Relations of UFRGS, Postdoctoral by London School of Economics. ([email protected]) 2 Undergraduate Student of International Relations at UFRGS 1 NERINT 2009 The low life standard (Guyana has the smallest per capita income of South America), the structural deficiencies and the high unemployment rate, however, may be misleading indicators as the exploration of the petroleum begins (especially in Suriname) and other minerals like iron and gold, besides the hydroelectric projects. But for the economic potentiality to become reality, the foreign support is necessary. And in this sense, both countries begin to realize that the cooperation with Caribbean, the United States and Europe has to be followed by integration with its continental neighbors. Therefore, the more the development is interiorized, the bigger relevance the trans-border relations and the regional integration will gain, including the necessity of facing the transnational threats that follow the process. 1. The colonization and the socio-cultural formation Along with the French Guiana, which is part of France and the European Union, Guyana (formerly English) and Suriname (formerly Dutch Guiana) form their own geopolitical region, the Guianas, directed towards Caribbean, and even though covered by the Amazon forest, they are separated from the Amazon basin by the plateau of the Guianas, whose highest peaks reach three thousand meters of altitude. Guyana has a surface of 215 thousand km² and a population of 800 thousand inhabitants, while Suriname covers, respectively, 163 thousand km² and 450 thousand inhabitants. More than 90% of the population is found on the coastal strip, the interior country having an extremely rarefied population. The French Guiana has a surface of 91 thousand km² and a population of 170 thousand inhabitants. This situation is easily explained by the structure of the English and Dutch colonization. The Spanish and Portuguese navigators, who explored the coasts, weren’t interested in colonizing it, which was done by the Dutch, who established agricultural settlements on the outfall of the two countries’ rivers, being the first of them on the Essequibo, in 1616. The colonies focused on the tropical cultivation (especially of sugar) and on the wood exploration and other natural resources were slow to prosper, due to the epidemics and the Caribbean and Arawaks indians’ (the autochthonous inhabitants) attacks. In 1796, during the French Revolution, the English occupied the western colonies, situation which was recognized by Netherlands in 1814, which kept only the coast of the now existing Suriname, while Portugal occupied temporarily the French Guiana during the Napoleonic wars. The need for labor for the plantations brought the colonizers to introduce African slaves, many of whom rebelled (since the rebellion leaded by Cuffi), escaping to the forest, where the Maroons (as they became known) created societies based on the 2 NERINT 2009 socio-political structures of the western Africa. With the traffic abolition, the English brought Chinese and Indian workers from the decade of 1830, in the condition of Indenture Servants, which was also made by the Dutch from the decade of 1870 with Indians and Indonesians, especially the Javanese. Thus multiethnic and multicultural societies were being formed, with a wide racial, linguistic and religious variety. Amerindians of many groups (especially in the up-country), afro-descendents assimilated on the farms and the cities, “forest niggers”, Indians of many origins (of the Hindu and Muslim religion), Javanese Indonesians (Muslim), Chinese, English and Dutch, besides half-breeds, constitute the main communities. The elites are relatively permeable to the mixed marriages, but in general each group maintains a strong identity, having little mixture of races. Afterwards, the constitution of the movements and political parties was strongly set on ethnic lines. Nowadays Guyana has a population of 800 thousand people (it has already been of 1 million in 1980), with a life expectancy of 62 years, an annual growth of 1,6% and a density of 3,3 inhabitants for km². In religious terms the Christian represent 50% of the population (33% protestant and 17% Catholics), the Hindus 34% and the Muslim 9%. Ethnically, the Hindus constitute 50% of the population, the afro-descendents 33% and the 17% remaining are Amerindians, half-breed, Chinese and European. Only 32% of the population is urban and Georgetown, the capital, has 234 thousand inhabitants. The GDP is 1,1 billion dollars, with a per capita income of only 1375 dollars. The idioms are the English, the Hindi and the Urdu, with an illiteracy of 3%. On its turn, Suriname has, today, a population of 493 thousand inhabitants (there is almost 10% of Brazilians, most of them illegal), with a life expectancy if 71 years, an annual growth of 1,3% and a density of 2,6 inhabitants for km². As for the religion, the Christians represent 44% of the population (23% protestant and 21% catholic), the Hindus 26%, the Muslim 19% and the traditional Amerindian worship 5%. Ethnically, the Indo-Pakistani constitutes 37% of the population, with a per capita income of only 3102 dollars. The idioms are the Dutch (official), the Hindi, the Javanese, the Crioulo, the French and the English, with an illiteracy rate of 8%. At the end of the nineteenth century, as the labor costs increased and the metropole created huge colonial empires in Africa, Asia and Oceania, the traditional plantations declined. The sugar, the coffee, and the cocoa gave place to the export of rice, bananas and citrus, but the big news was the beginning of the exploration of bauxite for the manufacturing of aluminum during the First World War, on both countries. During the Second World War, to exemplify the importance of the new economic cycle, 75% of the north-American import of bauxite was from Suriname. In both countries the exploration was made by transnational companies, like ALCOA, company of the United States. 3 NERINT 2009 2. The nationalism and the belated independence The process of decolonization was earlier in the Asian and African countries, due to the existence of an autochthonous population, with historical and cultural traditions which preceded the colonialism, which was an important condition for the articulation of independentist political forces and of a national consciousness. On the other hand, the Guianas case was more complex, for the overwhelming majority of the population was immigrant, precisely in the colonial period. Moreover, the multiethnic and multicultural character of the society represented an additional obstacle, because the relation of each group with the colonizer was differentiated. Therefore, in the Guianas and in Caribbean the process of decolonization was, comparatively, belated. In Guyana, the movement for independence gained pulse after the Second World War, through the Progressist Popular Party (PPP), a multiethnic organization which defended a platform of national independence and social reforms of socialist origins, founded in 1950. The leader of the party, Cheddi Jagan, was elected for the position of prime minister in 1953, 1957 and 1961, the marks of an autonomy regime given by England in 1953. Fearing the popular agitation, the communists and the left wing radicalization of the PPP, the English suspended the Constitution in 1957. In face of the popular pressure, in 1961 the total autonomy is conceded and with a majority of the PPP in the Assembly, a new Constitution is promulgated and Jagan reelected. At the same time a split happens on PPP in 1955, with the creation of the People’s National