Jagan Declares Party Interest

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32016, 17 June 1969, Page 15

Jagan Declares Party Interest

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright) MOSCOW, June 16. Dr Cheddi Jagan, a former Prime Minister of Guyana, has formally enrolled his People’s Progressive Party in the world Communist movement in a speech at the Communist summit of 75 nations in Moscow.

Dr Jagan, who expressed his party’s gratitude for the invitation to take part in a world Communist summit for the first time, said: "Not only theory, but also practice, has shown us that we belong precisely to this family.” Dr Jagan was prime minister when Guyana was still a British colony; his People’s Progressive Party is the chief Opposition to the coalition Government of Mr Forbes Bumham.

A summary of Dr Jagan’s speech given by the Soviet news agency, Tass, indicated that his statements were “completely orthodox and pro-Moscow.” He condemned Peking for its divisive activities in the Guyanese Left-wing Government, and endorsed the Warsaw Pact forces’ invasion of Czechoslovakia, which, he said, could not be considered a violation of Czechoslovakia’s sovereignty.

Dr Jagan’s presence at the summit has been something of a surprise for diplomats in Moscow because, they say, he has always been vague when asked directly whether he is a Communist, although

he has called himself a Marx-ist-Leninist. His speech, however, has left no doubt at all in their minds that he has finally taken a stand.