Editing History of Guyana (section)

===The Jagdeo years===

In 2000, Guyana would be described in ''The 21st Century World Atlas'' [[reference book]] as suffering from a "lack of basic structures and services", and "poorly developed" fishing, livestock, and forest resources, while praised for "great efforts...in the farming and industrial sectors".<ref name="atlas2000">{{cite book |editor-last1=Fernandez y Fernandez |editor-first1=Jose Armando |date=2000 |title=The 21st Century World Atlas |chapter=America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnNpAAAACAAJ |location=[[Naples, Florida]] |publisher=Trident International |page=434 |isbn=978-1-888777-92-5}}</ref> National elections were held on March 19, 2001, three months later than planned as the election committees said they were unprepared. Fears that the violence that marred the previous election led to monitoring by foreign bodies, including Jimmy Carter. In March incumbent President Jagdeo won the election<ref name="ciawfguy" /><ref name="bulkan2021" /> with a voter turnout of over 90%. Meanwhile, tensions with Suriname were seriously strained by a dispute over their shared maritime border after Guyana had allowed oil-prospectors licence to explore the areas. The same year, a law passed allowing the government "expropriate property in the public interest", but the U.S. State Department noted, in 2022, that there were "no recent cases of expropriation."<ref name="statedept2022" />

In December 2002, Hoyte died, with [[Robert Corbin (Guyanese politician)|Robert Corbin]] replacing him as leader of the PNC. He agreed to engage in '[[constructive engagement]]' with Jagdeo and the PPP. The same year, five escapees from a jail in Georgetown "embarked on a spree of murders, kidnappings, and robberies", calling themselves [[Freedom fighter|guerrilla fighters]] who were resisting the government. These massacres resulted in the emergency of a [[paramilitary]] unit known as the Phantom Squad, led by Shaheed "Roger" Khan, an [[Indo-Guyanese]] [[drug trafficker]] of [[cocaine]], which engaged in many [[extrajudicial killings]], primarily of Black criminals, which lasted six years, leading some to say the country had become a [[narco-state]].<ref name="bahgai2015" />

The PPP/C would win re-election in 2006. However, a political opposition party, Alliance for Change, formed by those who had defected from the PPP/C and the PNC, performed "surprisingly well", gaining it six seats in the country's parliament.<ref name="bulkan2021" /> Previously, scholars had argued that the country had suffered from violence and rioting during the election campaigns in 1996 and 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/case-study/cooling-ethnic-conflict-over-heated-elections|title=Curbing electoral violence in Guyana|website=Centre for Public Impact|date=March 27, 2016|access-date=July 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202234702/https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/case-study/cooling-ethnic-conflict-over-heated-elections|archive-date=February 2, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[2005 Georgetown flood|Severe flooding]] following torrential rainfall wreaked havoc in Guyana beginning in January 2005. The downpour, which lasted about six weeks, inundated the coastal belt, caused the deaths of 34 people, and destroyed large parts of the rice and sugarcane crops.<ref name="bulkan2021" /> The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimated in March that the country would need $415 million for recovery and rehabilitation. About 275,000 people—37% of the population—were affected in some way by the floods. In 2013, the [[East Demerara Water Conservancy|Hope Canal]] was completed to address the flooding.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 29, 2016|title=Good Hope Canal releasing water from EDWC|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/12/29/news/guyana/good-hope-canal-releasing-water-edwc/|website=Stabroek News|language=en-US|access-date=July 11, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230711211437/https://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/12/29/news/guyana/good-hope-canal-releasing-water-edwc/|archive-date=July 11, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2008, President [[Bharrat Jagdeo]] was a signatory to the [[UNASUR Constitutive Treaty]] of the [[Union of South American Nations]]. On February 12, 2010, Guyana ratified its membership in the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).<ref>{{Cite web|title=UNASUR indifference to Guyana|url=https://guyanachronicle.com/2016/12/08/unasur-indifference-to-guyana/|date=December 8, 2016|website=Guyana Chronicle|language=en-US|access-date=July 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603164948/https://guyanachronicle.com/2016/12/08/unasur-indifference-to-guyana/|archive-date=June 3, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.embassyofguyana.be/about-history.php|title=History|website=Embassy of Guyana in Brussels|access-date=July 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701102851/https://www.embassyofguyana.be/about-history.php|archive-date=July 1, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>