Desmond Hoyte

Hugh Desmond Hoyte (9 March 1929 – 22 December 2002) was a Guyanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.

Early life and education

Hoyte was born on 9 March 1929<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> to a middle-class family<ref name=NYTs/> in Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana. He was educated at St Barnabas Anglican School and Progressive High School. In 1948, he joined the civil service, then entered public service as a teacher in Guyana and Grenada.<ref name=":0"/> While he was working, Hoyte earned an external B.A. from the University of London in 1950. In 1957,<ref name=encyclopedia.com/> he went to the UK to pass his bar exams at the Middle Temple and earn an LL.B., which he received in 1959.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1960 he joined the same law practice as Forbes Burnham (Clarke and Martin),<ref name=encyclopedia.com/><ref name=":0"/> before setting up private practice and became one of the leaders of the Guyana Bar Association.<ref>Keith A. P. Sandiford, A Black Studies Primer: Heroes and Heroines of the African Diaspora, Hansib Publications, 2008, p. 214.</ref> He would come to serve as a legal advisor to the Guyana Trades Union Congress. In 1962, he was appointed a member of the General Council of the People's National Congress.<ref name=encyclopedia.com/> In 1966, he was appointed to the National Elections Commission, which supervised the 1968 Guyanese general election.<ref name=encyclopedia.com>Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics

After being a general council member for the party,<ref name=":0"/> he entered Parliament as a member of the People's National Congress in 1968 and soon began serving in the cabinet. He was Home Affairs Minister from 1969 to 1970, Finance Minister from 1970 to 1972,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Works and Communications Minister from 1972 to 1974, and Economic Development Minister in 1974 to 1980. In all of his ministerial positions, Hoyte was a part of the movement of the Burnham administration towards a planned economy,<ref name=":0"/> particularly in his role as the Minister of Economic Development during the nationalization of the bauxite and sugar industries following the 1974 Declaration of Sophia.<ref name= encyclopedia.com/> In 1973, he was appointed a member of the central committee of the PNC.<ref name= encyclopedia.com/>

Following the December 1980 election he became one of five vice-presidents, with responsibility for economic planning, finance, and regional development.<ref name="parliamenthistory">Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of GuyanaTemplate:Full citation needed</ref>

In August 1984, Hoyte became Prime Minister and first Vice President, replacing Hamilton Green, who was widely seen at the time as Burnham's preference for successor.<ref name=":0"/>

Hoyte suffered a personal tragedy in 1985 when his two daughters Amanda and Maxine died in a car crash while traveling on 30 April to hear him deliver the May Day address in the town of Linden. His sister-in-law and his driver also died; his wife Joyce was the lone survivor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidency

File:Presidential Standard of Guyana (1985-1992) under President H. Desmond Hoyte.svg

Presidential standard of Desmond Hoyte

File:Desmond Hoyte with Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office.jpg

Desmond Hoyte meeting with Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office on 13 September 1988

On Burnham's death on 6 August 1985,<ref name="BlackPast">Template:Cite web</ref> Hoyte became the third President of Guyana.<ref name=":0"/> Shortly before Burnham's death, he and other members of the PNC had embarked on talks with the opposition People's Progressive Party attempting to achieve a national unity formula to deal with the country's problemsTemplate:Citation needed. Hoyte announced his willingness to continue the dialogue, but also announced that a general election would be held on 9 December. Responding to criticisms of previous elections as fraudulent, he agreed to certain reforms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Immediately after becoming President, Hoyte removed bans on imported food items and opened Guyana to greater international trade.<ref name=Museum/>

In July 1987, he hosted the President of the African National Congress, Oliver Tambo, for a four-day visit, highlighting the close links Guyana maintained with the liberation struggle in Southern Africa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 1987, Hoyte established the Guyana Prize for Literature.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1989, Hoyte first proposed a conservation area in the Guyanese rainforest; this proposal would eventually become the Iwokrama Forest.<ref name=":0"/>

Hoyte was also Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 until 1992.Template:Fact

During Hoyte's presidency, violent crime decreased, but Hoyte failed to reduce levels of corruption within the government.<ref name=":0"/>

Hoyte used the increased powers of the presidency (changed by his predecessor in the 1980 Constitution) to move away from policies advocated by previous president Forbes Burnham which had led to high poverty rates and high debt. He also invited foreign investment and made peace with the International Monetary Fund, which angered others in his party.<ref name=":0"/> During Hoyte's tenure, Guyana's significant sugar industry saw a revival, and the economically important Omai Mine was opened and began production.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During his presidency, he would try to improve racial relations between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese, being called derisively "Desmond Persaud" for his supposed better treatment of Indo-Guyanese people.<ref name=":0"/> Hoyte also re-established freedom of press.<ref name=encyclopedia.com/>

1992 General Election

Template:Main Hoyte announced significant electoral reforms in 1990 prior to the 1992 election, influenced by former US President Jimmy Carter. These reforms included a ban on the military providing electoral services with the exception of for security purposes, counting being done at the place of voting, the establishment of an independent electoral commission and changes to ballots and ballot boxes.<ref name=IPSNews/> According to Hamilton Green, Jimmy Carter personally announced that overseas voting would no longer be allowed to the Guyanese public;<ref name=hgreen>Template:Cite news</ref> overseas voting was used to manipulate the 1968 Guyanese general election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Following Hoyte's electoral reforms, the 1992 Guyanese general elections were the first free and fair elections since 1964.<ref>Nohlen, p357</ref> In the lead-up to the election, Hoyte believed that the PNC could win a free and fair election. Initial returns showed an unmistakable trend in favour of the opposition PPP. When it became apparent that the PPP was on its way to victory, PNC party supporters took to the streets to attack the headquarters of the electoral commission to try to halt the vote count. Hoyte announced that he would resign if this action continued, thus ending the demonstration.<ref name=":0"/>

After two days of counting, Hoyte conceded defeat to the PPP and its leader, Cheddi Jagan.<ref>"Cheddi Jagan Elected As Guyana's President", The New York Times, 8 October 1992.</ref>

Post-Presidency

Hoyte remained leader of the PNC until his death,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and also Minority Leader and Leader of the Opposition.<ref name="hist">Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2009 Parliament of GuyanaTemplate:Full citation needed</ref>

In 1994, the PNC split, with a new party being founded by Hamilton Green after he was expelled from the PNC for a public disagreement with Hoyte over electoral reforms and party discipline.<ref name=IPSNews/> According to Green, the disagreement rose from a party meeting at East Ruimveldt Secondary School, where Green opposed Hoyte's electoral policy on opposing overseas voting. Hoyte then appointed a panel to review the event, which resulted in Green's expulsion.<ref name=hgreen/> Green's party, Good and Green Georgetown, won the Georgetown municipal elections, beating both the PNC and PPP.<ref name=IPSNews>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hoyte was the PNC candidate in the presidential elections of 1996 and 2001. He received second place both times (40.6% in 1996 and 41.7% in 2001).Template:Citation needed

In opposition, Hoyte obstructed several initiatives proposed by the ruling party, including constitutional changes and the establishment of a commission on race relations. He also conducted a campaign to overturn the results of the 1997 elections.<ref name=":0"/> He regularly protested the exclusion of Afro-Guyanese from government posts.<ref name=NYTs/> After the 2001 elections, Hoyte's PNC refused to take seats in parliament.<ref name=":0"/> Bharrat Jagdeo, the elected President, held reconciliation talks with Hoyte in 2001, but they were unsuccessful.<ref name=NYTs/>

He died of heart failure in Georgetown, Guyana on 22 December 2002, aged 73.<ref name=NYTs>Template:Cite news</ref> His tomb is at the Botanical Gardens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After his death a television station had its name amended as a posthumous homage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Hoyte married Joyce Noreen De Freitas in 1965.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hoyte's wife, Joyce, died on 14 February 2011 aged 77.<ref name=Museum/> Hoyte had a sister, called Patricia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hoyte and his family had a residence on North Road, Bourda, Georgetown, which was converted into a museum and library in his honour in 2016.<ref name=Museum>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Desmond Hoyte 1929–2002
• New York Times: "Desmond Hoyte, 73, Former President of Guyana, Dies"