Guyanese have had more than their fair share of pain in the last fifty years. First, they got caught up in the cold war in the sixties because of the left wing politics of the political leaders, inspired by the ideology of Karl Marx, which led to a programme of destabilisation against the government in which the American Central Intelligence Agency got involved, the destruction of democracy and prolonged emigration. This set the country back enormously, made progress much more difficult, and led to a lower standard of living, a lack of skilled and experienced people, a severely depleted business class and widespread alienation.

As if this were not enough, there is now evidence that an increasing amount of drugs from Colombia is passing through Guyana en route to consumers in the north (some of it is being dropped off here, but not much) and that drug barons are becoming a power in the land, even to the extent of providing their services in a war against criminals. The ashes of Marxism have hardly stopped smouldering and the ghost of Al Capone, or his modern counterparts, loom on the horizon.

It is truly an appalling prospect. The politics and the ethnic tensions have been enough to disrupt the peace of mind of at least two generations but the prospect that drug barons may enjoy increasing influence in the society as trafficking through Guyana develops is enough to induce terminal despair. The vast majority do not want this, or the political hatred or the ethnic fanning of flames, but it seems that we have as a nation lost our way and stumble from crisis to crisis.

Oh where are free men now, Martin Carter once famously asked, men not contaminated by ethnic distrust, men revolted by organised crime and all that it stands for and by criminal violence of any kind, men with some hopeful vision for the future of a decent Guyana where there is some stability and there are opportunities for hard work and development. One senses that the older generation, or what's left of it, has little more to contribute and not enough young people are emerging who seem capable of rising above our present difficulties.