CHAPTER 4
THE NEW ORDER - 1970 - 1974
10. TURNING POINT
If the year 1970 were to be given a title, the GDF would call it the 'Year of Change'. It was a turning point for the military, educationally and attitudinally. On 23 February, Guyana became a Republic. It signified the beginning of the final process of constitutional decolonisation and it intensified the struggle for change from the old order of colonialism. Besides discarding the British crowns which field officers still wore on their epaulets as subjects of Queen Elizabeth, there were other changes to come. As if to co-incide with Republic Celebrations in Guyana, Venezuelan troops occupying Ankoko opened a furious barrage of fire against the Eteringbang Outposts of the Guyanese Military and Police Forces - thereby writing yet another chapter of harrassment in the long story of face-to-face confrontation on that Border. Our soldiers remained collected and resolute in the face of this renewed provocation. Again the policy of the government of pursuing peaceful solutions to Border problems bore fruit and after a while tempers cooled. In other parts of the country, development proceeded. The National self-help Road Project from Mahdia to Annai started, and elements from the first Battalion first went to participate. The project which was both a symbolic co-operative national exercise and a vital part of the interior road-building programme needed for development. attracted thousands of Guyanese volunteers from home and abroad. GDF volunteers worked
shoulder-to-shoulder with civilians in this memorable effort while Engineers operated from the Southern Surama end of the project. When the self-help phase came to an end, the Engineers were to remain in charge of the entire road and thus GDF involvement was to continue. On 22 July a parade of great significance took place at the Thomas Lands square. Half a dozen Officer Cadets who had been trained in the Training Wing of the Force were commissioned in the presence of the President of the Republic. From its inception, the GDF had sent its Officer Cadets abroad to be trained, but this course established the competence of the Force to 'nationalise' an important part of its training. An Officer Cadet from the Caribbean State of St Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla was also in this batch. But, that apart, Guyana was now a Republic and despite the presence of the GDF on the Self Help Project; despite the local training of Officer Cadets, there was not as yet any fundamental change of attitude among the ranks of Officers and soldiers as to the national ideology and an appreciation of the objectives of the government. As in most former colonial territories, it was felt that the Army should be loyal to the 'government of the day' and should not otherwise get involved in politics. In fact, Force Standing Orders explicitly prohibited open participation in any political activity. During the years of British Tutelage, nothing had been done to dispel these notions. Inevitably the political movement gained momentum as changes were introduced in the country and the ideological consciousness of the masses
