Cheddi Jagan
1918 – 1997 Guyanese dentist, premier, president
The Guyanese leftist leader ousted with Anglo-American help during the Cold War.
- Religion
- Hindu background; secular Marxist
- Affiliations
- People's Progressive Party (Guyana)
Cheddi Jagan was a Marxist dentist who led British Guiana toward self-government and became premier in the 1950s and 1960s. British and US officials, wary of a communist foothold, worked to remove him, including through covert support for rivals and labor unrest documented in later records. He finally became president of independent Guyana in 1992 after decades in opposition.
In the timeline
- 1953 British Guiana file purge mentioned
- 1953 Britain suspends British Guiana's constitution over Cheddi Jagan central figure
- 1962 CIA campaign drives out British Guiana's Cheddi Jagan central figure