A Brief History of Former British Colony Guyana

 A corporate executive based in South America, Barry Kevin O‘Rourke is the director of S.A.B. Mining, which exports diamonds and precious metals. Barry Kevin O‘Rourke’s center of operations is Guyana, a former British colony that is now an independent nation.

Guyana’s history extends back to the first millennium B.C. when it was settled by the Carib and Arawak peoples. Christopher Columbus encountered the country’s coast in 1498, although Europeans did not establish a foothold until the Dutch set up trading posts around 1580. They later imported African slaves to harvest sugarcane. Britain and France alternated control of the land during the French Revolution, with the former finally winning and naming the territory British Guiana.

Britain emancipated the African slaves in 1831. Involuntary labor persisted, however, with the use of indentured servants from India, who eventually could buy their freedom. The discovery of gold in 1879 boosted the economy.

A gradual shift to self-government began in 1891, although Britain still maintained overall control. A constitution providing for a legislature and ministerial bureaucracies was enacted in 1853, but when a communist-leaning indigenous party gained power, Britain suspended it. A system of proportional representation alleviated partisan strife, and the British granted independence in 1966 to the country now called Guyana.

Although the political scene has remained unsettled, Guyana has successfully transitioned from a socialist to a free market economy. The discovery of offshore oil in 2015 portends future prosperity.