Dear Editor,
In a few days from now, the printing press will be silenced and the Stabroek News will become an essential part of Guyana’s historical records. The Stabroek News has been Guyana’s preeminent post independence national newspaper and cessation of its publication will be a great loss to the nation.
Within recent weeks of the editor’s announcement that publication of the paper will cease as of March 15, 2026, many individuals have written of the important role the paper has played over the four decades of its existence and of their sadness over its impending loss. I share their views and sentiments and I wish to extend my thanks to the editors/publisher for publishing my many letters over the years. In this piece, I take a look at the background against which the paper was launched and the commitment to public affairs, democracy, and press freedom of the paper’s founder, Mr David de Caires.
At the time of Guyana’s independence in 1966, the country had two national daily newspapers, the Guyana Chronicle and the Guyana Graphic. The Guyana Chronicle, a more politically biased, right wing paper was owned by Mr Peter D’Aguiar, then leader of the United Force party and Minister of Finance under Prime Minister Mr LFS Burnham in the PNC-UF coalition government. On the other hand, the Guyana Graphic, owned by the Thompson family of Canada, was a more independent and even-handed paper in its reporting.
After Mr D’Aguiar ended his political career in 1969, the Guyana Chronicle was sold to the Burnham government around 1971. This was followed in September 1974 by the government acquiring the Guyana Graphic. In December 1975 the two papers were merged under the company name Guyana National Newspapers Limited. Years later, based on the Wikileaks release of US documents, Stabroek News of November 22, 2015 reported “A September, 1974 US diplomatic cable described the sale of the Guyana Graphic by the Thompson Group to the state as a forced one and cites the then PNC government’s “harassment” of the newspaper’s employees as a key factor”. The article also quotes a cable from the US Ambassador to Guyana, Max V Krebs to his government: “Demise of Graphic can probably be realistically interpreted as demise of principal remnant of press freedom in Guyana…”
The Ambassador’s words were prescient. By the mid 1980s all national elections since independence were rigged to keep the PNC in power. The government had become increasingly more and more repressive with harassment and violence against opponents, including assassination of WPA’s leader, Dr Walter Rodney in June 1980. The economy was in shambles and malnutrition was prevalent. Judicial decisions were tainted in favour of the government and press freedom was curtailed. Importation of newsprint by non government entities was restricted and radio was under government control. It should be noted that Stabroek News’ launch in 1986 predates Government’s television broadcasting service which started as GTV in 1988.
That was the background against which the Stabroek News was launched. The origin is reported in the article “30th anniversary of Stabroek News” (Stabroek News, November 21, 2016) as follows: “The paper had its origins in an overture by Managing Director of the Trinidad Express Ken Gordon to then President Desmond Hoyte. Following that, local lawyer David de Caires asked Hoyte about starting a newspaper, and the latter raised no objection, but said no foreign exchange would be granted. Stabroek News for the first months of its life, therefore, was printed at the Trinidad Express courtesy of a grant from the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED).”
That was the prevailing environment when in 1986, David de Caires launched the Stabroek News. Years earlier, he had qualified as a Solicitor (a British colonial legal designation that was later changed to Attorney in Guyana) and practiced law but had a keen interest in public affairs, social justice and democracy. In 1962 he and his friend, fellow Solicitor, Miles Fitzpatrick, joined Trinidadian Lloyd Best, then an Economic Planning Advisor to Guyana’s Premier, Dr Cheddi Jagan, in forming the New World Group, which, from 1963 to 1972, published fourteen issues of the New World magazine, including a commemorative issue on Guyana’s Independence, the preface of which was written by Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.
Also, around late 1965, the duo of David de Caires and Miles Fitzpatrick together with Moses Bhagwan who had earlier resigned from the PPP, and few others including former First Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr Harold Drayton, and Journalist Rickey Singh formed the Committee for National Reconstruction (CNR). This organization was intended to bridge the political and racial divide in the country following the turbulent years of 1962 to 1964. Unfortunately the CNR soon faltered. Subsequently, after the 1980 elections, Mr de Caries joined the Compass Group, an organization of a number of professionals in the city that was seeking to engage in discussions to move the country forward, away from its economic and political difficulties. Finally, after Compass floundered, he launched the Stabroek News with a grant from the NED in 1986.
Following the passing of Mr de Caires, in an article captioned “David de Caires had a passionate commitment to democracy” (Stabroek News, November 4, 2008) the former Speaker of Parliament, Harri N. (Ralph) Ramkarran offered a fitting tribute to David de Caires and the paper: “David’s irrepressible commitment to democracy drove Stabroek News’s dedication to the restoration of free and fair elections and press freedom in Guyana. Thereafter, Stabroek News has been a fixture in the daily life of Guyana and plays an important role in shaping opinion and discourse”.
The earlier noted article, “30th anniversary of Stabroek News”, concludes: “For many years Stabroek News struggled to survive, first because of the foreign exchange challenges in the early Hoyte years, and then because of the very burdensome repayments attached to the loan for the new press. The newspaper also continued to appear despite the seventeen months’ ban on state advertisements which was instituted against it by the last government (i.e the PPP government under President Dr Bharat Jagdeo). The Founder and first Editor-in-Chief of the paper died in November 2008, but he created an institution which still endures.”
Having played its part in helping to restore and preserve democracy, and championing press freedom, now with the current state of technology, competition from social and government controlled media, and reducing revenue from government advertisements, sadly the “institution” created by David de Caires can no longer endure. Hopefully the archive could be acquired by a public institution, possibly the University of Guyana, where it would be an invaluable source of historical information for future generations of Guyanese.