Dear Editor,
It is with grief I read of the passing of former US Congressman, Stephen Solarz. He died last week in Washington from cancer at age 70. He was an amazing Congressman with a strong conviction for fairness and someone who resented rulers oppressing their people. Like the late Ted Kennedy, he was of incalculable help to Guyana and abused people of other countries. Kennedy’s statement calling for free and fair elections in Guyana rejuvenated the entire NY Guyana freedom movement. This was followed by Solarz’s and then Engel’s statements.
I know Solarz from my reporting on his appearances at Indian gatherings for community newspapers and I have good memories of meeting him and raising Guyana’s human rights violations. It was through Indian organizations like GOPIO, FIA, AIA, of which myself and several other Guyanese are affiliated, that we were able to meet and build a relationship with Solarz who would become one of our allies in the battle against the Guyana dictatorship. In fact, a group of Guyanese (Mahadeo Persaud, Ramesh Kalicharran, Ravi Dev, Vishnu Bisram and others) lobbied him to intervene in Guyana in the struggle for the restoration of democracy.
Solarz was an energetic supporter of democracy and human rights all over the world. He was bold and courageous in his calls for the US to pull back its support for corrupt and repressive regimes. He felt passionately about protecting human rights around the world and one can say he was largely responsible for America’s more humane foreign policy cracking down on dictators. Solarz spoke out against abuses in the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Cambodia, Zaire (of Mobutu fame), Rhodesia (Zimbab-we), and later Guyana, among others. He was a staunch supporter of the Solidarity Movement led by Lech Walesa who went on to become President and he was responsible for US ending support to Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.
At the same time, he began to cultivate friendly relations with India which was at loggerheads with the US during the cold war providing Guyanese an opening to meet him.
Solarz had many ardent admirers in the Guyanese and Asian Indian communities. We used to see him regularly on TV Vision of Asia (CH 47) programme which served the Indo-Guyanese population in NY area during the 1970s thru the 1990s. Guyanese remember him standing up for India in the US Congress and developed a natural attraction to him as someone who they could approach to fight for Guyana.
Solarz soon became one of the most ardent supporters of the Guyana cause calling for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. No House member (Bronx’s Elliott Engel, also did a lot) did so much for Guyana’s democracy as Solarz. In fact, he used his office and influence to help restore freedom and democracy in several countries besides Guyana before demitting office.
Solarz served a heavily Jewish district in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn for 18 years and when Mahadeo Persaud, myself and a few others visited his office pleading for help, he was moved to assist, committing to write to the State Department drawing attention to abuses in Guyana. Later, he shared with us a letter he wrote to the State Department on Guyana.
Subsequently, right after a statement from Kennedy, he issued a press release condemning human rights violations in Guyana and calling on President Bush to take measures to ensure Guyana holds free and fair elections. I recall this statement being read in front of the UN at a vigil we held during which Arjune Baichu fasted for five days to draw attention on Guyana. Daily, Guyana’s UN workers would pass by and jeer us. I recall this statement being published in Stabroek News.
Ravi Dev would remember Solarz well as he was also present at a few of the functions, including a fundraiser, for Solarz.
Solarz’s death is an enormous loss. Those in NY who struggled for the restoration of democracy in Guyana will never forget his contribution.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
