Valerie Hart

Valerie Paul Hart (born 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]

Valerie Hart
President of the Essequibo Free State
In office
28 December 1963 – 4 February 1969
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byPosition dissolved
Personal details
Born
Valerie Paul Hart

1934
Rupununi District, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, Guayana Esequiba
DiedUnknown location
Political partyGuyana's Amerindian Party (1967–1969)
Spouse(s)Harry Jim Hart
OccupationPolitician, flight attendant

Personal life

Valerie got her last name from her 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
Main article: Rupununi Uprising

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]

In the 1968 Guyanese general election, Hart ran for a seat in the National Assembly of Guyana under The United Force party.[5]

On the morning of 2 January 1969, there was a peasant uprising against the authorities of the district and took public buildings, airports, and hostages. Valerie was named First President of the Essequibo Free State that immediately requested the Venezuelan protection of the Raúl Leoni government. That night, the rebellion was violently suppressed by Guyanese Defense Forces, resulting in the destruction of several indigenous homes, around 100 death people and the escape of many indigenous to Brasil and Venezuela.[6]

Exile

That same night, Valerie Hart fled with her family to Ciudad Bolívar, before going to Caracas to request military aid from the Venezuelan government; according to her, her goal was, on behalf of the rebels, to create an independent region of Guyana.[7]

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.[7]

—Valerie Hart, Caracas, 1969

On the other hand, Mrs. Valerie Hart had private meetings with Venezuelan Interior and Foreign Ministers, Reinaldo Leandro Mora and Ignacio Iribarren Borges, respectively, in search of help, as well as expressing interest in requesting an interview with the President Raúl Leoni and with the winning candidate of the last elections and next president Rafael Caldera. From the interviews conducted with the Venezuelan Foreign and Interior ministers, she said that they had not made any offer, since they told her that they were very sensitive 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. 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. Manley, Robert H. (1979). Guyana Emergent: the post-independence struggle for nondependent development. G. K. Hall. p. 130. ISBN 9780816190010.
  6. 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.
  7. GONZÁLEZ, Pedro. La Reclamación de la Guayana Esequiba. Caracas: Miguel A. García e hijo S.R.L. 1991.
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