Assassinations and other forms of violence targeting critics of the State have been part and parcel of Guyana’s political history. Revelation that Walter Rodney was murdered by the State must now force the people of Guyana to confront the reality of state brutality, seeking to end it once and for all.

Justice for the revered public intellectual remains elusive 35 years after his assassination. The Commission of Inquiry instituted by the government, and which was recently forced to end its operations amidst questions about its credibility, seems to have been set up for political expediency. Whatever the findings of the Commission, Guyana and the world will not stop demanding the truth about Rodney’s death.