PREAMBLE

CONSTITUTION OF THE CO-OPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA

PREAMBLE WE THE PEOPLE OF THE CO-OPERATIVE OF GUYANA,

the proud heirs of the indomitable spirit and unconquerable will of our forefathers who by their sacrifices, their blood and their labour made rich and fertile and bequeathed to us as our inalienable patrimony for all time this green land of Guyana,

SALUTING the epic struggles waged by our forefathers for freedom, justice and human dignity and their relentless hostility to imperialist and colonial domination and all other forms and manifestations of oppression;

ACCLAIMING those immortal leaders who in the vanguard of battle kept aloft in the banner of freedom by the
example of their courage, their fortitude and their martyrdom, whose names and deeds being forever enshrined in our hearts we forever respect, honour and revere;

INSPIRED by the glorious victory of 26th May, 1966, when after centuries of heroic resistance and revolutionary endeavor we liberated ourselves from colonial bondage, won political independence and became free to mold our own destiny;

CONSCIOUS of the fact that to bring about conditions necessary for the full flowering of the creative genius of the people of Guyana formal political sovereignty must be complemented by economic independence and cultural emancipation;

HAVING ESTABLISHED the Republic on 23rd February, 1970, to reinforce our determination to chart an independent course of development in conformity with our historical experience, our cultural heritage and our common aspirations;

PLEDGED to defend our national sovereignty, to respect human dignity and to cherish and uphold the principles of freedom, equality and democracy and all other fundamental human rights;

DEDICATED to the principle that the people of Guyana are entitled as of right to enjoy the highest possible standard of living and quality of life consistent with their work and the possibilities of the country's resources;

CONVINCED that the organisation of the State and society on socialist principles is the only means of ensuring social and economic justice for all of the people of Guyana; and, therefore,

BEING MOTIVATED and guided by the principles of socialism;

BEING OPPOSED to all social, economic and political systems which permit the exploitation of man by man; and

ACKNOWLEDGING our common purpose of national cohesion and our common destiny as one people and one nation,

DO SOLEMNLY RESOLVE to establish the State on foundations of social and economic justice, and accordingly by popular consensus, after full, free and open discussion, debate and participation,

DO ADOPT the following––