U.S. Intervention in British Guiana: A Cold War Story / Edition 1

by Stephen G. Rabe

Overview

In the first published account of the massive U.S. covert intervention in British Guiana between 1953 and 1969, Stephen G. Rabe uncovers a Cold War story of imperialism, gender bias, and racism.

When the South American colony now known as Guyana was due to gain independence from Britain in the 1960s, U.S. officials in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations feared it would become a communist nation under the leadership of Cheddi Jagan, a Marxist who was very popular among the South Asian (mostly Indian) majority. Although to this day the CIA refuses to confirm or deny involvement, Rabe presents evidence that CIA funding, through a program run by the AFL-CIO, helped foment the labor unrest, race riots, and general chaos that led to Jagan's replacement in 1964. The political leader preferred by the United States, Forbes Burnham, went on to lead a twenty-year dictatorship in which he persecuted the majority Indian population.

Considering race, gender, religion, and ethnicity along with traditional approaches to diplomatic history, Rabe's analysis of this Cold War tragedy serves as a needed corrective to interpretations that depict the Cold War as an unsullied U.S. triumph.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807856390
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/25/2005
Series:	New Cold War History
Edition description:	1
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Stephen G. Rabe is professor of history at the University of Texas at Dallas and author or coauthor of several books, including The Most Dangerous Area in the World: John F. Kennedy Confronts Communist Revolution in Latin America.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

U.S. Intervention in British Guiana is built on memorable characterizations of important world leaders and a close examination of their leadership. It is hard to hold onto romanticized images of Kennedy and Churchill after reading about how they casually betrayed Guiana. Cheddi Jagan belongs alongside Salvador Allende, Jacobo Arbenz, and Mohammad Mossadeq in the roster of popular, democratic leaders victimized by American misunderstanding.—Nick Cullather



This cautionary tale constitutes a major contribution to our understanding of major power intervention in Latin America and the rest of the world.—Hispanic American Historical Review



A deeply engaging, lucid, and superb book. . . . The most complete account to date of what actually took place in British Guiana. . . . [Rabe's] research is meticulous; his factual presentation is flawless . . . his judgment is on the mark.—Journal of Cold War Studies



Rabe has succeeded in artfully weaving a narrative that almost seamlessly balances a number of separate and complex conflicts. . . . Deserves to be, and should become, the standard text for the U.S. subversion of British Guiana for the foreseeable future.—Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe



With persistent and thorough research, Stephen Rabe uncovers a story the Central Intelligence Agency didn't want the public to know. The Agency systematically burned its documents on British Guiana, but it couldn't remove traces that remained in British archives, the records of labor unions, and in private hands. Its broad outline is all too familiar. . . . Policymakers from the Pentagon to the Green Zone should take note of Guiana's lesson: that 'regime change' can turn easily and disastrously into ethnic warfare.—Nick Cullather



Rabe skillfully analyzes the mix of racial, geopolitical, developmental, and sexual assumptions out of which American strategists drew their tragic misinterpretations of Guianese events. . . . As Rabe shows, cultural preconceptions shaped policy as much, or more, than economic or political interests. Rabe has recovered a crucial episode in the cold war and interpreted it with verve and sophistication.—Nick Cullather, Indiana University



Rabe manages to drive home the pathos of Guyana's political history from the 1950s to the 1990s and in particular to reveal the heavy price the Guyanese people paid as hapless victims of America's Cold War.—Journal of American History



[U.S. Intervention in British Guiana: A Cold War Story] makes an important contribution to the historical scholarship on British Guiana's (Guyana) struggle for independence. It should appeal to college students, scholars, government officials and others with an interest in Guyana and the Cold War.—The Americas



A highly instructive history of an important and tragic place in Cold War history. Rabe's introduction of newly released documents will no doubt spark other scholars' interest in expanding and exploring new facets of this story.—American Historical Review



An important addition to the growing number of scholarly works on Guyana.—H-Caribbean



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Editorial Reviews

"This cautionary tale constitutes a major contribution to our understanding of major power intervention in Latin America and the rest of the world."
-- "Hispanic American Historical Review"

"A deeply engaging, lucid, and superb book. . . . The most complete account to date of what actually took place in British Guiana. . . . [Rabe's] research is meticulous; his factual presentation is flawless . . . his judgment is on the mark."
-- "Journal of Cold War Studies"

"Rabe has succeeded in artfully weaving a narrative that almost seamlessly balances a number of separate and complex conflicts. . . . Deserves to be, and should become, the standard text for the U.S. subversion of British Guiana for the foreseeable future."
-- "Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe"

From the Publisher