Valerie Hart

Valerie Hart
In office
28 December 1963 – 4 February 1969
Preceded by Position created
Succeeded by Position dissolved
Personal details
Born 1934
Guayana Esequiba
Died Unknown location
Political party Guyana's Amerindian Party (1967–1969)
Spouse(s) Harry Jim Hart
Occupation Politician, flight attendant

Valerie Paul Hart (Rupununi District, currently Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, 1934–) was an indigenous political leader from the Wapishana ethnic group and a member of Guyana's Amerindian Party, opposed to the Forbes Burnham government; she ran for the 1968 general elections, although she wasn't elected. She was exiled after participating in the Rupununi uprising.[1][2]

Personal life

Valerie got her last name from husband (Harry Hart) who was a pilot with whom she had five children. Both Valerie and her husband participated in the celebrations of the Independence of Guayana in 1966 in an aerobatic display. [3]

Separatist movement

Being a member of Guyana's Amerindian Party along with her husband's family, she was present at the First Conference of Amerindians Leaders, named the "Cabacaburi Congress", that presented several demands to the Prime Minister Forbes Burnham representing the community of around 40,000 indigenous people of the region.[4] The movement defended the integration of the natives to the Guyanese society, inconsonant with the afrocentrists policies of Burnham; the indigenous society at the South Esequibo felt threatened by the possible distribution agricultural parcels among the sectors that supported the Prime Minister, driving the inhabitants of the Rupununi district to rebel against the authorities. According to Valerie Hart, the reasons that drove the region's population to rebel against the government was the fact that the constitutional rights were not being respected due to the continuous intimidation and repression against them.[2]

On the morning of the 2 January 1969 there was a peasant uprising against the authorities of the district resulting in the taking of hostages and the capture of public buildings and the airport. Valerie was named as the first president of the Esequibo Free State that requested immediately the Venezuelan protection of Raul Leoni's government. The rebellion was violently quelled that night by the Guyana Defence Force, resulting in the destruction of many indigenous houses, around 100 deaths and the flight of many natives to Brazil and Venezuela.[5]

Exile

Hart fled the same night with her family to Ciudad Bolívar to then go to Caracas and request military help from the Venezuelan government. She indicated that her objectives were in the representation of the rebels in order to create an independent region of Guyana.[6]

Nosotros, los habitantes del Rupununi de la Guayana Esequiba y en consecuencia venezolanos por nacimiento, según el articulo 35 de la Constitución Nacional, hacemos un llamado al gobierno, al pueblo y a las Fuerzas Armadas de Venezuela para que nos ayuden e impidan que las hordas del Primer Ministro de Guyana nos masacren.

We, the inhabitants of the Rupununi of the Guayana Esequiba and in consequence Venezuelans by birth, according to article 35 of the National Constitution, make a call upon the government, to the people and to the Armed Forces of Venezuela to help us and prevent the hordes of the Prime Minister of Guyana to massacre us.[6]

—Valerie Hart, Caracas, 1969

Hart also had private meetings with the Internal and Foreign Affairs ministers, Reinaldo Leandro Mora and Ignacio Iribarren Borges respectively seeking help. Hart also showed interest in having a meeting with outgoing president Raúl Leoni and with president-elect of the last elections Rafael Caldera. Hart indicated, following the meeting with the ministers, that they would not make her any offer of support due to the delicate international political issues.[2]

Hart exiled herself to the state of Texas in the United States. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

References

  1. ↑ Sierra, Manuel Felipe (14 January 2011). "La tristeza de Valerie". ABC de la Semana (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Ramírez Colina, Oswaldo (13 September 2007). "La insurrección de Rupununi". monografías.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Márquez, Oscar J. (8 March 2009). "La Templanza y Fortaleza de Valerie Paul Hart". La Guayana Esequiba (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Amerindian News Georgetown: vol 2, No 3, May 15thy 1968.
  5. ↑ Márquez, Oscar J. (29 December 2008). "La Guyana Esequiba y la Primera Conferencia de Jefes Amerindios en Cabacaburi. Parte II". La Guayana Esequiba (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 GONZÁLEZ, Pedro. La Reclamación de la Guayana Esequiba. Caracas: Miguel A. García e hijo S.R.L. 1991.
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