Dear Editor,
As March unfolds, we are confronted with the stark realization that Stabroek News—a bastion of the free press in Guyana—appears to be moving irreversibly toward a painful closure.
How do we say farewell, and thank you, to an institution that helped define who we are as Guyanese. For decades it made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands, every day of every year. The Alliance For Change celebrates the immense contribution of Stabroek News to our democracy. It educated us in culture and the arts; it provided a forum where friends and foes alike could air their opinions, disagreements, and frustrations; and it consistently sought to maintain balance in a society often pulled toward dangerous extremes.
The AFC itself was never spared the “slings and arrows” of its sharp editorials or the pointed criticisms found in its letters columns. Yet when credit was due, it was given. That was the mark of a newspaper committed to fairness and intellectual honesty.
Today we gladly celebrate the founders, the editors, the daily and weekly contributors, and above all the many silent workers whose efforts sustained the newspaper: the editors and proofreaders who shaped the words, the staff who formatted the pages, the printers who brought them to life, and the drivers who carried the news through the darkness so that Guyanese could begin each day informed. To all of you, we say: thank you.
It is deeply unfortunate that Stabroek News has become a casualty not only of the changing tides affecting newspapers worldwide, but also of a political climate that too often treats criticism as hostility. A democracy thrives on scrutiny; it weakens when dissent is met with vindictiveness or intolerance.
We therefore encourage all right-thinking Guyanese to stand up for fairness, decency, and respect—for a Guyana where differences of thought, political affiliation, culture, and belief are embraced as sources of strength rather than occasions for exclusion and hostility.
In reflecting on this moment, we are reminded of the words of our celebrated poet, Martin Carter, written in 1974. His words shout across the decades and speak powerfully to our time:
“I have at last started
to understand the origin
of our vileness, and being
unable to deny it, I suggest
its nativity.
In the shame of knowledge
of our vileness,
we shall fight.”
And so we must continue to fight—for truth, for justice, and for the preservation of the freedoms
that make our democracy meaningful.