June 3, 1980: Presidential Candidate Walter Rodney Assassinated

Radical academic and leader of the Guyanese Working Peoples Alliance, Walter Rodney, is killed by a bomb as he prepares to run for office in upcoming presidential elections. Speculation immediately links Rodney’s death to the government of Forbes Burnham, although Rodney’s WPA colleague Dr Rupert Roopnaraine will later maintain that “In the days and months following the murder, WPA received credible information that the shaped explosive and the radio triggering mechanism had been brought in from the USA by a named individual. Virginia was mentioned.” [Stabroek News, 10/28/2004]