March 7, 1997, Seattle Times, Around The World; Guyana's president dies; led country to independence,

March 7, 1997, Seattle Times, Around The World; Guyana's president dies; led country to independence,

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - President Cheddi Jagan, who helped lead Guyana to independence during a four-decade political career, died today after suffering a heart attack three weeks ago.

Mr. Jagan, 78, died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he had been hospitalized since Feb. 16 after a heart attack at his home in the Guyanese capital of Georgetown.

Born March 22, 1918, to indentured Indian immigrants, Jagan was educated as a dentist in the United States and became a force in Guyana's labor movement when he returned home.

He first won power in colonially administered elections in what was then British Guiana in 1953, but Britain suspended the constitution under pressure from the United States, which feared a communist beachhead in South America.

Jagan, who was re-elected in 1992, abandoned his Marxist leanings for capitalist-style policies.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is expected to be sworn in to succeed Jagan. General elections must be called by September.