Pumps' Perplexities

The country of Guyana will be in the news for the next few
days due to an attempted bomb plot at JFK Airport in New
York City......

I had the privilege of supervising a number of Guyanian
woman, while a factory boss, back in the mid '80s and I
did study the history of the country to get to know my
workers better......

Guyana is a small country in the northern part of South
America.....When we went to school we learned about
British Guiana, Dutch Guiana and French Guiana (home
of Devil's Island)......Remember?.......

These three countries became part of the East Indies
and slave trade......Major products were minerals and
sugar cane......In 1837 the British Empire got out of the
slave trade business and set free all the black slaves
who were cutting sugar cane in Guiana.....In order to
replace the workers, the British hired, low paid,
immigrants from India......

Today the country's governing class is mostly black, the
East Indians (Christian, Hindu or Muslim) are a minority,
with the latter attempting to gain governing control......
I believe a newspaper reported that only 9% of the
population is Indian-Muslim.......

So, my avid fans, now you know how a Muslim got into
Guyana......Also Trinidad/Tobago are two islands off the
shores of the Guianas, with similar cultures and
histories.....The Olde East Indies.......Pumps