Guyan President In Hot SeatAssociated Press Writer Tuesday, November 26, 1996 5:29 am EST GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- President Cheddi Jagan faces mounting outrage for remarks he made describing blacks as ``the lowest rung of the social ladder.'' Jagan, of East Indian descent and leader of the Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party, made the comments during a meeting in Toronto last month of Indo-Guyanese businessmen, outraging the influential black minority back home. ``His remarks are divisive and irresponsible,'' Joseph Pollydore, secretary-general of the Trade Unions Congress, said Monday, demanding an immediate apology. The 78-year-old president has refused to rescind the comments, saying he was referring to African-Americans and not blacks at home. Every major opposition group in the South American country has demanded an apology. ``I have nothing to apologize for. I said what I meant to say,'' he told reporters. Jagan made the remarks during a speech on his party's volatile relationship with Britain, which controlled Guyana until 1966, and the United States, which has intervened repeatedly. ``The PPP (People's Progressive Party) is not an Indian party. The British and Americans did not remove me from power and put (former President Forbes) Burnham in because of race,'' Jagan said. ``In fact, if they were using race, I should have been kept there and Burnham should have been kept out forever. Because as we know, blacks are generally at the lowest scale of the social ladder.'' The main opposition People's National Congress, traditionally supported by Afro-Guyanese, has written to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson and black civil rights groups asking them to condemn Jagan. Afro-Guyanese comprise about 30 percent of the population, but have traditionally controlled politics in the capital, where most of them live.
© Copyright 1996 The Associated Press
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