Latest news with #Persaud
Boston Globe
03-07-2025
- Boston Globe
The site of the Jonestown massacre opens to tourists. Some ask why.
After decades of hesitation over how to handle Jonestown's legacy, which many Guyanese see as a stain on their small South American nation, a new tour allows visitors to confront the traumatic event. Advertisement The Jonestown Memorial Tour, operated by a Guyanese company called Wanderlust Adventures GY, offers a $750 trip that includes a flight from the capital, Georgetown, a bumpy hourlong van ride, and a night in the nearby mining town of Port Kaituma. The tour has provoked backlash from Guyanese eager to shed any association with Jonestown, named for Jones, and from survivors who say commodifying what happened there is lurid. One survivor, John Cobb, 65, called it 'a money grab to capitalize on a tragedy.' He happened to be in the Guyanese capital during the mass deaths, but 11 relatives, including his mother and five siblings, died. The company's owner, Roselyn Sewcharran, said the goal was not sensationalism but education about 'the dangers of manipulation, unchecked authority, and the circumstances that led to this devastating event.' Advertisement Sewcharran, who was born and raised in Guyana, studied sociology and founded her tour company five years ago. Repeated requests from foreign travelers interested in visiting Jonestown led to the idea for a tour. 'I've always been curious about social issues and their impact,' she said. 'There genuinely was a desire to learn more about this significant chapter of our past.' She soon brought Chris Persaud on as a guide. Persaud, who works as an information technology consultant, said his grandfather, a Guyanese journalist, had been invited to Jonestown by the team of a visiting lawmaker, Representative Leo Ryan, a California Democrat, but he declined, sensing danger. Persaud said he sees his role as continuing his grandfather's legacy of storytelling. On a sweltering Saturday earlier this year, Sewcharran led an inaugural tour. As leaves crunched underfoot, she paused at the entrance, where a replica of the original 'Welcome to Jonestown' sign stands. 'I'd just like us to take a moment of silence for all the lives lost,' she said. Persaud explained how Jones — a preacher described by many of his followers as charismatic and who spoke about racial equality — founded Peoples Temple in Indiana in 1955, before moving to California. In 1977, Jones, along with hundreds of followers, moved to Guyana to build what he portrayed as a self-sufficient, interracial community amid mounting US legal investigations and media scrutiny over accusations against Jones of physical abuse and financial fraud. Adherents handed over their life savings, passports, and possessions and labored 12 hours a day as Jones grew increasingly paranoid. On Nov. 17, 1978, Ryan went to Jonestown after relatives of people in the settlement reported claims of abuse. The next day, as he and several group members attempted to leave, followers of Jones opened fire at the Port Kaituma airstrip, killing Ryan, three journalists, and a Peoples Temple member. Advertisement That afternoon, anticipating that the killing of a US Congress member would mean the end of Jonestown, Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide, commanding followers to drink cyanide-laced punch under threat from armed guards. Some were forcibly given poison with syringes. Jones died alongside them. Persaud and Sewcharran spent two years researching the event, traveling to the site and interviewing locals familiar with what happened. Today, the area is largely barren, but they hope to add signs and a small museum. A previous effort to turn Jonestown into a tourism site earlier this century fizzled. 'It's a niche market,' Sewcharran said. 'It's not for everyone.' Guyana, an English-speaking country bordering Venezuela, has a booming oil sector and an influx of foreigners with disposable income, so the country's small tourism industry is trying to expand offerings like ecotourism, said Dee George, president of Guyana's tourism association. Jonestown, she added, 'is part of us, whether we like it or not.' The inaugural tour conducted by Sewcharran included two of her relatives, two journalists and two tourists: a 66-year-old Norwegian executive and Sean Traverse, 48, a full-time traveler from California. Traverse said there was an inconsistency in how 'dark tourism' is perceived, noting that tourists also visit Auschwitz and the Colosseum. He said he had spent years trying to visit Jonestown, even reaching out to bush pilots for price quotes. When he heard about the new tour he was the first to sign up. Advertisement He grew up in California's Ventura County, and said he spent part of his childhood in the Church Universal and Triumphant, a New Age group that sought to build a self-sufficient community to survive an expected nuclear apocalypse and drew criticism for some of its actions. A California court awarded a former member $1.56 million in damages, citing coercion from the group to hand over his life's savings. Traverse said he understood the appeal of the Jonestown community and how groups like Peoples Temple can turn abusive. Being at the site of so much horror and confronting how easily people — including his own family — could be drawn into manipulative movements overwhelmed him, he said. 'I've had experience of people being in groups that were super positive until they weren't,' he said. He said Jonestown remains relevant because he believes many Americans are experiencing a spiritual void that cults claim to fill. 'I don't think it's far-fetched that it could happen again,' Traverse said. In interviews, reactions by residents of the small town to the tour ranged from bemusement to indifference. Some said the area was haunted and most try to avoid it. 'It's a nice idea, but it's not something to remember,' said Tiffany Daniels, 32, who owns a restaurant. 'It's just bad energy. It's a lot of lives.' Her daughter Serena, 11, found it strange that tourists would pay to visit. 'I would not like to go there,' she said. 'At all.' This article originally appeared in
Miami Herald
17-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bernie Sanders urges UNFI to negotiate a ‘fair contract' with Cub Foods workers
Dive Brief: Sen. Bernie Sanders has called on United Natural Foods, Inc. as well as two grocery operators to "negotiate in good faith to sign a fair contract" with employees affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers Local Union 663 after they voted to reject the grocers' contract offers in May. Along with UNFI, the Vermont Democrat senator sent letters to Minneapolis-area grocery operators The Haug's Companies, which runs two supermarkets under UNFI's Cub Foods franchise, and Knowlan's Festival said in an emailed statement it takes Sanders' comments "very seriously" and is in touch with his staff about the ongoing negotiations. Dive Insight: UFCW Local 663 workers at these Minneapolis grocery banners have been working without a contract since March, Sanders wrote in separate letters to the three grocery operators, noting in his letter to UNFI President and CEO of Retail Andre Persaud that this is "absolutely unacceptable." Unionized workers at UNFI/Cubs Foods, Haug's Cub Foods and Knowlan's Festival voted in May to reject contract offers from the grocery companies. That month, the union representing the workers filed unfair labor practice charges that claimed UNFI/Cub Foods failed to bargain in good faith and alleged additional violations of the National Labor Relations Board by Haug's and Knowlan's Festival. According to UFCW Local 663, the contract rejected by workers would have imposed additional healthcare costs on workers, failed to provide livable raises and sought concessions from the unions. UFCW Local 663 represents more than 2,300 workers across 33 UNFI Cub Foods locations, according to the senator's letter to Persaud. "I have personally heard from these workers, who have expressed serious concerns about your company's demands for healthcare concessions and your insistence that workers drop current unfair labor practice charges and grievances – including what I understand to be approximately $2 million in sick time class action grievances alone," Sanders said in the letter to Persaud. He continued: "These unlawful tactics, including refusing to negotiate, threatening workers, and surveilling employees over their union activity, are unacceptable and have prompted the filing of multiple unfair labor practice charges." UNFI said in its emailed statement that it has been negotiating in good faith with UFCW Local 663. "As part of the negotiations, we've offered strong wage increases, continued market leading union health care and significant increases in our contributions to the union's pension plan to help address underfunding and protect the benefits of all participants. It is our strong hope that the union will choose to meet with us to continue negotiations toward a new contract," UNFI said in a statement. The company added that almost 80% of Cub Foods' workforce is unionized. UFCW Local 663 said last month that the companies' conduct "has set the union on a path to potential strikes," which could involve as many as 2,800 workers at 38 stores throughout the Minneapolis area. The threat of a strike is the latest challenge facing UNFI. Early this month, the grocery supplier suffered a cyberattack and is currently relying on manual procedures to receive and fulfill orders from customers after having to entirely shut down its online platform on June 6. Last week, UNFI disclosed that it is mutually ending its relationship with supermarket cooperative Key Food, which includes a $53 million contract termination fee for UNFI. Copyright 2025 Industry Dive. All rights reserved.
New European
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Expressing the bleeding obvious
Under the byline 'Raj Persaud – consultant psychiatrist', the doc offered such insights as how the president appeared 'to nurse his mouth area with a hand briefly as he reappears, suggesting he may even have been hurt', before speculating, as he is younger than his wife, that it indicated 'this whole incident transmitted the sense of an adolescent male's rejection by a more experienced woman'. 'I'm a consultant psychiatrist – these are 3 things the Macron 'shove' incident reveals,' ran a headline in the Daily Express this week, as one-time daytime TV mainstay Raj Persaud analysed the eye-catching interaction between the French president and his wife. The incident, he warned, 'was perhaps a sign that the turbulence may be far from over, and the French need to fasten their seatbelts'. Express readers have grown used to this sort of deep insight from Persaud. Earlier this month, following the Duke of Sussex's BBC interview, they were treated to 'I'm a consultant psychiatrist: These are 3 things Prince Harry's latest outburst reveals', in which he speculated that the errant royal's 'latest public outpouring was in fact an attempt to send a message to the King and other members of his family'. 'With other avenues of communication apparently cut off – he claimed the King will not take his calls – this was quite possibly a bid to garner attention on the public stage in a manner they simply cannot ignore,' he added. Back in March, under the headline 'I'm a consultant psychiatrist: This is what the King's music reveals about his character', Persaud noted that Charles had said that music can 'comfort us in times of sadness', prompted him to draw on his years of experience to ask: 'This emphasis on how melody affects mood raises the question of whether His Majesty needs cheering up a lot. In which case, has the playlist revealed that he can really get quite low at times?'. And that itself came just a week after 'I'm a consultant psychiatrist – here are THREE ways the Ukraine crisis has transformed PM', under which Persaud used his expertise to scoop every political hack in Britain with his assertion that 'as a professional people watcher, I get the sense Starmer may have finally found the cause that makes him feel like a mover and shaker on the world stage'. Groundbreaking analysis. Or, as Basil Fawlty might have said, stating the bleeding obvious. Next week: I'm a consultant psychiatrist – and I'll knock out any old rubbish for a few quid!
Edinburgh Live
08-05-2025
- Edinburgh Live
Expert says Prince Harry's BBC interview sends one 'clear message' to King Charles
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Prince Harry's 'another angry interview' with the BBC following his recent legal defeat was intended to send a clear message to the Royal family, suggests a consultant psychiatrist. The Duke of Sussex has faced criticism for comments he made to the BBC regarding his loss of security in the UK, where he criticised his father the King and even accused the Court of Appeal and the Government of a 'stitch-up'. Harley Street medic Dr Raj Persaud has now offered his perspective on Harry's decision to voice his concerns, proposing that this latest public expression was an attempt to communicate with Charles and other estranged family members. READ MORE - UK households who leave Fairy Liquid near kitchen sink issued warning READ MORE - Donald Trump's 'eight-word command' to Canadian Prime Minister 'exposed by lip reader' "With other avenues of communication apparently cut off – he claimed the King will not take his calls – this was quite possibly a bid to garner attention on the public stage in a manner they simply cannot ignore, quite possibly a form of emotional blackmail," he shared with the Express. He suggested that the underlying message is that Harry will persist in voicing his grievances until his family takes him seriously. Dr Persaud also pointed out that the emotional Duke seems unable to move forward, despite having previously lost this legal battle. As Harry reiterated his stance repeatedly, he "appeared psychologically stuck, so convinced of the logic and morality of his position that he couldn't seem to grasp that, even if he is right, he is still not getting what he wants", says Dr Persaud, reports the Mirror. The psychiatrist concluded by suggesting that Harry is likely still tormented by the tragic loss of his mother, a factor that influences his quest for security and shapes his thought process and decision-making. "Yet reacting to this latest legal disappointment by throwing fresh grenades seems like a hasty, ill-though-out tactic, and one which will certainly not serve to soften differences between the Duke and Palace," he stated. "He appears to be in difficulty and, I would suggest respectfully, needs help to move on and really start a process of rapprochement with his family. Sadly this is unlikely to happen though the prism of another angry media interview showing his apparently trapped mindset." This sentiment is mirrored by Palace insiders, who believe Harry's outburst will only exacerbate the rift with his family. His remark about the King's cancer, where he said he "doesn't know how much longer he has left", was deemed particularly "poor taste". The Duke of Sussex, aged 40, spoke with BBC News on May 2, shortly after a judge dismissed his legal challenge regarding his reduced security following his step back as a working Royal in 2020. In the recent interview, Prince Harry expressed, "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. "Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has," Prince Harry remarked, implying the unpredictable future of King Charles. "He won't speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile." Harry also suggested that his security troubles "could be resolved" by King Charles. He noted, "There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands," before adding, "Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary." Despite these assertions, the palace has regularly rebutted the idea that the King has the capacity to reinstate Harry's security. In turn, a source disclosed to the Sunday Telegraph their concern about privacy breaches, asserting there's "nothing that can be trusted to remain private" and hinting at reasons for the lack of contact: "as for their being no contact, well, he has just proven why, yet again". Moreover, an informant conveyed to ITV News: "For a son who claims to want a family reconciliation, it's certainly a very curious way to build bridges or offer olive branches. His beloved grandmother would have been truly horrified. The King is a kind man with a warm heart and quite enough on his plate to deal with, without all this from his son."
Daily Record
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Prince Harry's BBC interview shows 'ongoing struggles' with Royal Family and 'memories of Diana'
Prince Harry has lost his latest legal battle surrounding his security in the UK - and has since given a scathing interview to the BBC in which he launched an extraordinary attack on the King. Prince Harry's recent interview with the BBC, following his latest legal defeat, was a deliberate attempt to send a strong message to the Royal family, says a consultant psychiatrist. The Duke of Sussex has been criticised for his comments made to the BBC regarding his loss of security while in the UK, where he targeted his father, the King, and even accused the Court of Appeal and the Government of a 'stitch-up'. Harley Street doctor, Dr Raj Persaud, has weighed in on Harry's decision to go public, suggesting that the duke's emotional outburst was a strategy to communicate with Charles and other members of his estranged family. Dr Persaud said: "With other avenues of communication apparently cut off – he claimed the King will not take his calls – this was quite possibly a bid to garner attention on the public stage in a manner they simply cannot ignore, quite possibly a form of emotional blackmail." Dr Persaud further suggested that the underlying message is that Harry will continue to speak out and share his grievances until he is taken seriously by his family. Dr Persaud also noted that the Duke seems unable to move past the issue, despite previously losing similar legal battles. As Harry reiterated his stance repeatedly, Dr Persaud observed that he "appeared psychologically stuck, so convinced of the logic and morality of his position that he couldn't seem to grasp that, even if he is right, he is still not getting what he wants", reports the Mirror. The psychiatrist concluded that Harry is likely still haunted by the tragic death of his mother, which is influencing his quest for security and affecting his decision-making process. "Yet reacting to this latest legal disappointment by throwing fresh grenades seems like a hasty, ill-though-out tactic, and one which will certainly not serve to soften differences between the Duke and Palace," he said. "He appears to be in difficulty and, I would suggest respectfully, needs help to move on and really start a process of rapprochement with his family. Sadly this is unlikely to happen though the prism of another angry media interview showing his apparently trapped mindset." This sentiment is shared by Palace insiders, who believe that Harry's outburst will only further deepen any rift with his family. His remark about the King's cancer, where he stated that he "doesn't know how much longer he has left", was deemed to be in particularly "poor taste". Harry, 40, spoke with BBC News on Friday, May 2, just a short time after a judge dismissed his legal challenge regarding his reduced security following his step back as a working member of the Royal family back in 2020. In the recent interview, Prince Harry said: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. "Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has," he continued, referencing King Charles. "He won't speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile." Harry then stated that the problem with his security "could be resolved" through King Charles. "There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands," he said. "Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary." The palace has repeatedly rejected the notion that the King can reinstate Harry's security detail. In reaction, a source disclosed to the Sunday Telegraph that this shows there is "nothing that can be trusted to remain private" and "as for their being no contact, well, he has just proven why, yet again". And another insider told ITV News: "For a son who claims to want a family reconciliation, it's certainly a very curious way to build bridges or offer olive branches. His beloved grandmother would have been truly horrified. The King is a kind man with a warm heart and quite enough on his plate to deal with, without all this from his son."
