Rupununi uprising

Damage to the Lethem police station from rebel bazookas
Date2–4 January 1969
Location
Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo
Result Guyanese victory
Belligerents

Guyana (1966–1970) Guyana

 Rupununi rebels
Commanders and leaders
 Valerie Hart
Elmo Hart
James Hart
Averrel John Melville
Strength
200 soldiers[1] 120–300 rebels[2]
Casualties and losses
  • 5 police officers killed
  • 2 civilians killed
  • 20 total wounded[2]
  • 2–3 Amerindians killed[3]
  • 28 rebels arrested[3]

The Rupununi uprising was a secessionist insurrection in Guyana that began on 2 January 1969 led by cattle ranchers[4][5] who sought to control 22,300 square miles (58,000 km2) of land.[2] Occurring less than two years after Guyana’s independence from the United Kingdom, it constituted the country’s earliest and most severe test of statehood and social solidarity. The rebels were ultimately dispersed by the Guyana Defence Force, with the group's leaders fleeing to Venezuela.[4][5]

Background

The rebellion was primarily led by ranch heads who feared their land rights would be revoked by the new Guyanese government following the 1968 Guyanese general election.[3] The Hart family was one of the main groups organizing the plot.[4][6][7] Valerie Hart, a United Force politician, her two brothers, James and Elmo, and two Americans named Harry and Richard Lawrence, also led the rebellion.[5] Another participant was Clement Tezarik, son of a Czechoslovakian miner.[5]

The motive for the rebellion has been in dispute. Guyanese Agriculture Minister Robert Jordan declared that the government would not recognize the inhabitants' land ownership certifications and warned that the zone would be occupied by the African American population.[8] After the rebellion, James Hart would cite the declaration as a reason for the uprising, saying that the Guyanese government denied the ranchers a 25-year lease request for the land they occupy and feared that farmers arriving from Jamaica and Barbados would take their land,[3] saying that they opposed the transfer of frontier farmlands and gold and diamond mining areas from the indigenous people to African-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese.[6] The Guyanese government was in the process of creating a commission for issuing land certificates to indigenous families in the area, though the review of 20,000 square miles (52,000 km2) of land was required.[6]

According to Valerie Hart the region's population rebelled against the government because their constitutional rights were not respected and because of continuous intimidation and repression directed against them.[9] Valerie was present at the First Conference of Amerindians Leaders, named the "Cabacaburi Congress" in 1968, presenting demands to Burnham who represented the community of around 40,000 indigenous people of the Rupununi district.[10] The movement, according to Venezuelan Navy officer Pedro González Caro, defended the integration of natives to Guyanese society, inconsonant with Burnham's afrocentrist policies.[9] Sanders instead said that the rebellion "was not an Amerindian rising, although many Rupununi Amerindians probably would have approved secession from Guyana."[11]

Events

Rupununi district, current day Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region, where the uprising mostly took place.

Preparation

Planning for the rebellion involved a small group of 100 individuals in order to ensure secrecy.[12] According to Guyanese diplomat Odeen Ishmael, the majority of Amerindians involved in the plot were employees of the ranchers.[2] At a 23 December 1968 meeting, rebels finalized plans of a separated Rupununi state.[13] The plan was to control the Rupununi region for three days, which plotters assumed would result with recognition from Venezuela.[12] Planning for the rebellion involved a small group of 100 individuals in order to ensure secrecy. According to Guyanese diplomat Odeen Ishmael, the majority of Amerindians involved in the plot were employees of the ranchers.

Attack

The command center of the rebellion was at the Hart ranch, which was about 15 miles (24 km) from the town of Lethem, the principal settlement of the Rupununi region.[2] Valerie stayed in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, while her brothers and the Lawrences participated in the rebellion in Guyana.[5] Rebels armed with machine guns and bazookas began their attacks on Lethem around 11:00am on 2 January 1969, first attacking a police station with about twelve officers present.[2] Five police officers – this included the constables James McKenzie, William Norton, Michael Kendall, Sergeant James Anderson and Inspector Whittington Braithwaite – along with two civilians, Victor Hernandez and Thomas James, were killed while the rebels destroyed buildings belonging to the Guyanese government with bazooka fire.[6][14][15] Two other individuals were reported dead, with The New York Times writing that a total of nine people were killed.[14]

The rebels locked citizens in their homes and blocked airfields in Lethem, Annai, Good Hope, Karanambo and Karasabai, attempting to block staging areas for Guyanese troops.[13] In Annai, around ninety individuals were locked in a slaughterhouse by rebels.[6]

Counterattack

2 January

News about the insurrection reached Georgetown by midday on 2 January, prompting the deployment of policemen and soldiers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).[2][13] In the afternoon, a small group of police and GDF troops arrived at an open airstrip 5 miles (8.0 km) away from Lethem, being fired at by rebels upon their landing.[2][13] The night of the attack, the Hart family fled to Ciudad Bolívar, before going to Caracas to request military aid from the Venezuelan government; according to Valerie, her goal was, on behalf of the rebels, to create an independent region of Guyana.[16]

3 January

In the afternoon, Valerie Hart met in Caracas with the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Ignacio Iribarren Borges at the Yellow House, the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[8] In an effort to obtain support, Valerie explained the uprising to Iribarren Borges and said that the rebels had the intention of ceding Guyana's disputed Guayana Esequiba territory to Venezuela.[2][17] Iribarren Borges said that Venezuela was bound to the 1966 Geneva Agreement with the United Kingdom and Guyana, and that Venezuela could not intervene in favor of the rebels even if it wanted to.[8] In a press statement following the meeting, Valerie would state "Venezuela must assert her rightful claim and not only the Rupununi but all the 50,000 square miles of territory of the disputed Essequibo region."[2] Guyanese ambassador to Venezuela Eustace R. Braithwaite later questioned Borges on how Valerie was able to land a private aircraft in Venezuela, immediately meet with Borges and then proceed to hold press events in Caracas; Borges responded saying that he was required to meet with Valerie, that she was personally aided due to humanitarian concerns and denied Venezuelan involvement.[2]

Eighteen hours after the first group of Guyanese troops arrived, a large group of GDF soldiers began their approach on Lethem.[2] As troops approached, the rebels quickly fled and the uprising ended.[13] As the towns of Annai and Good Hope were liberated from rebel groups, tied up policemen were tossed from trucks by dispersing rebel forces.[2]

4 January

Detained rebels before being flown to Georgetown, Guyana shortly after the failed rebellion

On 4 January, captain Edgar Gavidia Valero flew to Santa Elena de Uairén sent by the Venezuelan government with the orders that the Venezuelan military institutions had to unblock the airfields and start the evacuation of both the Amerindian population and the uprising leaders. Hours afterwards, Guyanese soldiers arrived at the area.[8] Fighthing continued in Annai,[6] and by the end of the day the Guyanese government reported that it had defeated the rebellion.[18]

Aftermath

Members of the failed uprising fled to Venezuela for protection after their plans unravelled, with Hart and her rebels being granted Venezuelan citizenship by birth since they were recognized as being born in the Guayana Esequiba disputed territory.[9][19] The Venezuelan government settled the leaders into the Gran Sabana region.[3]

On 20 January 1969, Valerie Hart met with exiled rebels in Ciudad Bolívar to encourage them to maintain their fighting.[2]

Criminal charges

Arrested rebels being presented by Guyanese authorities

About thirty of the rebels were arrested following the uprising.[15] Guyana charged fifty-seven individuals with murder.[3] Of the twenty eight rebels arrested, eighteen were released on 24 January 1969 after having murder charges dropped.[18][20] The ten remaining individuals were Anaclito Alicio, Ignatius Charlie, Charles Davis, Francis James, Colin Melville, Patrick Melville, Damian Phillips, Aldwyn Singh, Brenton Singh and Handel Singh.[2][3]

During a jury trial in late 1969, Guyanese prosecutors presented evidence of Venezuelan armaments and oversight of the rebels, though the defense for those accused argued that his clients were under duress when they participated in the rebellion.[2] On 16 January 1970, the verdict of the jury was determined after seven hours of deliberation; seven of the ten accused were found not guilty while a verdict was not presented for Aldwyn, Colin and Patrick.[2] The judge overlooking the trial ordered a retrial, though the three remaining individuals were later acquitted and released.[2]

Political responses

An image provided by the Guyanese government, reportedly showing rebels on a bus in Venezuela

The Guyanese government accused the leaders of the uprising of misleading the region's indigenous people by saying that the government would take their land and of looting tens of thousands of dollars in the region after detaining residents.[2] Guyana also accused Venezuela of assisting the rebels,[4][6][18] saying that Valerie was provided facilities in Venezuela where she could make radio broadcasts promoting her movement, asking for aid from individuals from the United States.[4][2]

The government also alleged that forty rebels were flown by the Venezuelan Army to Santa Elena de Uairén on 24 December 1968, bussed to Santa Teresa the next day where they flew two hours to a military camp for a week of training,[2] before being flown back to the Hart family ranch in Pirara on 1 January 1969.[2][13] It released images reportedly showing rebels on buses in Venezuela being transported to training facilities,[2] and that Venezuela provided rebels with modern equipment.[6] Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham said in a radio broadcast that the rebellion was the "beginning" and that Guyana "must therefore expect further acts of aggression and intimidation from the new imperialism on our western doorstep", describing the rebels as "terrorists" trained by the Venezuelan army.[4][2] On 5 January, Burnham said that Guyana would present a complaint against Venezuela to the United Nations.[4][2] Captured rebel Colin Melville stated that rebels trained in Venezuela, including on how to use bazookas and machine guns.[21][6]

Venezuelan Minister Iribarren Borges strongly denied the accusations that Venezuela assisted the rebels.[22] Venezuelan Interior Affairs Minister Reinaldo Leandro Mora stated that some Guyanese individuals were provided military training in Venezuela after being encouraged by their family members.[2][13] The minister also said that individuals displaced as a result of the conflict were "a zone that is considered Venezuelan and are being persecuted", that they would be provided jobs and that such individuals would be awarded land.[2][13] Guyanese minister Ptolemy Reid said that Mora's declaration was further evidence of Venezuela's involvement.[2]

Members of the Brazilian Armed Forces present weapons captured from detained rebels who fled into Brazil

On 6 January 1969, Valerie was expelled from United Force, with the party saying that she was involved "with the rebellion and plot by a foreign power."[18] According to Guyanese diplomat Odeen Ishmael, a Reuters report on 8 January said that Valerie Hart stated "If Venezuela does not intervene right now with troops they would have in their hands a situation similar to the Bay of Pigs".[2]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil released a statement in support of Guyana on 7 January, saying Brazil "has expressed to the Guyanese government in this difficult moment its belief that this bordering and friendly nation will completely overcome the movement that disturbs its internal security and menaces its territorial integrity."[2]

The Guyanese ambassador to the United Nations presented its official letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant, on 9 January, saying "The government of Guyana is now in possession of irrefutable proof that the individuals who organized and carried out those crimes were trained for the purpose within the territory of the Republic of Venezuela, and supplied with arms by authorities of the Republic of Venezuela."[2] In March, Guyana instituted a three percent fee on imports to fund defense spending in response to the incident.[23] Between 28 February to 3 March 1969, Burnham held meetings with 160 Amerindians and all Amerindian chiefs (touchaus). The indigenous groups present condemning the actions of Venezuela, with the touchaus declaring in a joint statement that they pledged loyalty to Guyana, that they would never accept Venezuelan territorial claims and that they condemned individuals who collaborated with foreign nations.[2][13]

On 7 October, Venezuelan ambassador Andrés Aguilar denied allegations that Venezuela assisted rebels at a United Nations meeting.[24]

Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera and Burnham were alarmed at the uprising and vowed to focus their attentions on the issue of the territorial dispute between their two countries, leading to the Port of Spain Protocol in June 1970.[9]

Reports of abuses

Venezuela and Indigenous activist groups accused Guyanese forces of attacking and killing Amerindians in the region.[2] According to Sanders, "reliable sources" reported two or three Amerindians killed and said that accusations that up to seventy deaths occurred were "rumors."[3] The Guyanese government and its authorities denied any killings.[2]

A pilot of the Guaica airline, who stayed at Lettem, said two C-47 planes landed, Guyanese forces burned houses, tortured inhabitants and raped women.[25] Opposition leader Cheddi Jagan attempted to send two of his Amerindian personnel to the region in order to observe the situation but they were reportedly held at the airfield Lethem by GDF troops and flown back to Georgetown.[2] Bishop of Georgetown R. Lester Guilly traveled to the area and stated he witnessed no atrocities.[2] Some Amerindians relocated as a result of the rebellion,[3] with many moving to Brazil.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ , La insurrección de Rupununi.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Ishmael, Odeen (2015). The Trail of Diplomacy: The Guyana-Venezuela Border Issue (Volume Two). Xlibris. pp. 225–257. ISBN 9781503531284.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sanders, Andrew (July 1972). "Amerindians in Guyana: A Minority Group in a Multi-Ethnic Society". Caribbean Studies. 12 (2): 31–51.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Guyana Reports End of Uprising, Says Venezuela Aided Rebels". The New York Times. 6 January 1969. Retrieved 25 November 2023. The government charge that the revolt had been led by wealthy cattle ranchers who coerced indigenous Indian peasants into supporting them
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Times, Special to The New York (1969-01-12). "GUYANESE MAY TRY REBELS WHO FLED". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "GUYANESE TROOPS MOVE ON REBELS; Sons of U.S.-Born Rancher Said to Be in Group". The New York Times. 1969-01-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-30. The Government charges that the ranchers have misled the Indians of the area into believing that the Government will take their land away and that they have pursuaded the Indians to support the rebellion
  7. ↑ David A. Granger (18 January 2009). "The Rupununi Rebellion, 1969". Stabroek News. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Guyana: De Rupununi a La Haya". En El Tapete (in Spanish). 4 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  9. 1 2 3 4 González, Pedro (1991). La Reclamación de la Guayana Esequiba. Caracas.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Amerindian News Georgetown: vol 2, No 3, May 15th 1968.
  11. ↑ Sanders, Andrew (September 1987). "British Colonial Policy and the Role of Amerindians in the Politics of the Nationalist Period in British Guiana, 1945–68". Social and Economic Studies. 36: 93–94.
  12. 1 2 Sanders, Andrew (September 1987). "British Colonial Policy and the Role of Amerindians in the Politics of the Nationalist Period in British Guiana, 1945–68". Social and Economic Studies. 36: 93–94.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Braveboy-Wagner, Jacqueline Anne (2019). The Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute: Britain's Colonial Legacy In Latin America. Routledge. ISBN 9781000306897.
  14. 1 2 "23 GUYANA REBELS FACE MURDER TRIAL". The New York Times. 1969-01-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  15. 1 2 Ishmael, Odeen (2013). The Trail of Diplomacy: The Guyana-Venezuela Border Issue. ISBN 9781493126552.
  16. ↑ GONZÁLEZ, Pedro. La Reclamación de la Guayana Esequiba. Caracas: Miguel A. García e hijo S.R.L. 1991.
  17. ↑ González, Pedro (1991). La Reclamación de la Guayana Esequiba. Caracas. pp. 14, 45–47.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. 1 2 3 4 "The Month in Review". Current History. 56 (331): 181–192. 1 March 1969. doi:10.1525/curh.1969.56.331.181.
  19. ↑ Briceño Monzón, Claudio A.; Olivar, José Alberto; Buttó, Luis Alberto (2016). La Cuestión Esequibo: Memoria y Soberanía. Caracas, Venezuela: Universidad Metropolitana. p. 145.
  20. ↑ "Guyana Releases 18 of 28 Accused in Recent Uprising". The New York Times. 1969-01-25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  21. ↑ Rau, Robert L. (April 1970). "The Venezuelan Border Dispute". Marine Corps Gazette. 54 (4): 42–43.
  22. ↑ "Guyana Reports End of Uprising, Says Venezuela Aided Rebels". The New York Times. 6 January 1969. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "Guyana's New Budget Places 3% Levy on all Imports". The New York Times. 3 March 1969. p. 49.
  24. ↑ Orellana Yépez, Rosario (January–March 2001). "THE VENEZUELAN COMPLAINT ABOUT GUIANA IS A TEAM. CHRONOLOGICAL FOLLOW-UP". Bulletin of the National Academy of History. National Academy of History of Venezuela. 84 (333).
  25. ↑ Singh, Jai Narine (1 January 1982). Diplomacia o guerra: Análisis de la controversia fronteriza entre Venezuela y Guyana (in Spanish). Eduven. ISBN 9788449987519. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
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