Greetings Bubbla
In brief, the situation in Guyana is quite tense between Africans and East Indians, more so than in Trini I believe. The history of our interactions in Guyana is similar to the history in T&T which Ayinde explained. In Guyana,though, East Indians are the majority of the population, about 50% compared to about 40% of Africans (the other 10% is made up of the nine indigenous peoples of Guyana, Chinese and Portuguese (mainly descendants of indentured servants, like Indians) and various "racial mixtures"). Historical elements that have fostered animosity between East Indians and Africans include: the fact that indentured servants were brought in to replace former slaves who could now demand better wages, go on strike etc., so really they were brought in as scabs (not blaming them cos they were hungry people, but that is the role they were used to play); racist interpretations of Hinduism as Ayinde pointed out; and the general divide and conquer tactics of the british who set us up to be in conflict and competition with one another. Nonetheless there has always been an amicable side of relations between us as well, it is not like all Africans have been in perpetual war with all East Indians. Prior to the 1960s many people lived in mixed African and Indian villages, people took part in one another's cultural events (at one point the best tabla drummer in one village was an African man for eg.), there was some intermarriage etc. People were brought from several regions of the subcontinent; it is commonly said that Madrasi Indians who tend to be very dark skinned and whose version of Hinduism (Kali Yuga) has much in common with West African traditions, have tended to get along well with Africans as opposed to people from other regions of India. (As far as Chinese, there has not been much tension really as they have always been a small percentage of the population and either assimilated themselves into general "creole" (and heavily African-influenced) society, or kept themselves to themselves in the case of more recent Chinese immigrants who come to Guyana to do business, often as a stepping stone to going to Canada or the US or somewhere).
In the 60s prior to independence there was what is described as "race riots" between Africans and East Indians, which could more accurately be described as a mini-civil war, it went beyond "riots". Guyana still has not dealt properly with this episode in our recent history. There were incidents where virtually entire villages of people were massacred on both sides. After this mixed villages became either African or Indian depending on who was the majority; if a village had been 65% Indian it became 99 or 100% Indian and vice versa. This led to a pattern where there are alternating African and Indian villages adjacent to one another all along the coast. (A situation exploited by the late great Dr. Walter Rodney who would stand on the borderline between villages with a loudspeaker and address both communities at the same time).
The riots or civil war was exacerbated and inflamed by political leaders, and since independence Guyana's political landscape has been dominated by conflict between the African-dominated PNC and the Indian-dominated PPP. (Burnham of the PNC and Jagan of the PPP were initially colleagues in the same party, but split up as the lines became increasingly drawn between the communities.... basically as independence approached it became a fight to see who would dominate in the new country.)
The PNC was in power from independence until 1992. It is a generally accepted fact that they stayed in power by rigging the elections (dead people were famous for voting, sometimes several times). Many Africans generally justified PNC electoral fraud by saying that if it weren't for the rigging of elections, the numerically dominant Indians would have run roughshod over the African population. Many Indians saw the PNC as a dictatorship inimical to their interests. Then again, there were Indian PNC members and African PPP supporters. (One guy I met looks completely Black African, but has Indian ancestry as well and identified with the PPP. Then there's my "uncle" who is dark-skinned East Indian to look at but is half African and identifies more with that half, and is always quick to dis the "coolie coke dealers" running Guyana... so there are cases where the lines are very blurred). The PNC began pursuing "socialist" policies in the 70s, earning the enmity of the same CIA that had initially supported their rise to power. (Because they were seen as less left-leaning than the PPP).
Walter Rodney, Rupert Roopnaraine and others founded the WPA (Working Peoples Alliance) as a socialist alternative to what they saw as the phony pseudo-socialism and racial divisiveness of both the PNC and PPP. Rodney more than most could communicate effectively with both communities, emphasizing their commonolaties as impoverished and colonized peoples and attempting to promote a broad definition of Black Power that encompassed the masses of both African and East Indian people. Rodney was assassinated in 1980 and the WPA has not really been a viable political force since (in the sense that they have virtually zero chance of winning an election any time soon, though Rodney's appeal had made them a serious challenge to the ruling party and opposition for a time. Apparently the WPA does have a strong base in some Amerindian communites nowadays, though.)
In 1992 the PPP took power in allegedly unrigged elections, and have stayed in power since and will be in power for quite some time if political affiliation remains largely determined by race, simply because there are more Indians. In my opinion, they have been busy proving Africans right who said that they would dominate the African population when they took power. Meanwhile the PNC has been seen to be fraternizing with some not-necessarily-politically-conscious violent criminal elements in order to destablize the government. There has been a political and racial undertone to the infamous "crime wave" of 2002 that ushered in an era where Guyana is now notorious as a wild west land of high noon shootouts (an exaggerated and inaccurate reputation, as far as I could see in my last visit to GT a year ago). Speculation was rife that the bandit gangs were linked to or controlled by the PNC, or alternatively by the PPP gov't in an attempt to discredit the PNC. The robberies, assaults and murders that have been making the news in GT over the past few years are often portrayed as if it was all a case of vengeful Africans targetting innocent hard working Indians. In reality, while there has certainly been a racial element to some of these crimes, what is not so publicized is that many victims are African and some of the bandits are East Indian. The propensity for East Indians to be targetted can be explained not only by racial factors, but by the fact that many East Indians do not like to keep money in banks, but have it hidden around the house, something of which the bandits are quite aware. Also while Africans involved in violent street crime are easy to blame for "criminality" in Guyana, it is common knowledge that many Indian businessmen and political figures are involved in the cocaine trade amongst other criminal enterprises, but can get away with it due to their connections.
Generally the racial animosity is sustained by a paranoia on both sides. Africans generally feel threatened by Indian domination of the economy, and nowadays politics, and by their (correct) perception that many Indians are racist towards them. Many Indians on the other hand have a chip on their shoulder from the PNC days when Africans dominated politics, and fear a return of such domination. Generally it could be said that Africans are afraid of Indian political and economic domination and violence by an Indian-dominated state (as exemplifed by the death squads whose existence within GT's police force is an open secret) and Indians are afraid of a return of what they saw as African dictatorship, and of mob violence by Africans.
As long as politics remains sectarian and racially based it is difficult to see an end to the tension any time soon. There are extremists on both sides who would literally like to kill all of the other community, but that is not the majority of people by any means. There are certainly many African and Indian individuals who are genuinely the best of friends. Then, there are many Africans and Indians who can have generally stereotypical views of one another while at the same time seeming to have perfectly friendly and even intimate relationships with individuals of the other community. And of course neither community is monolithic. Hindu, Muslim and Christian Indians certainly have their own divisions for example.
Some people on both sides (slightly less extreme extremists than the ones who want to exterminate each other) have proposed partitioning the country in two. I think that is a crazy idea for many reasons. And it doesn't take into account the indigenous population of Guyana, who have been the most underrepresented and voiceless people in the society regardless of whether Africans or Indians held the reigns of power.
That is my brief view of the situation, trying to be fair to both sides. I share with Walter Rodney the belief that the PNC/PPP division is not getting Guyana anywhere and that neither party has a very high moral ground to stand on. I think Rodney's vision of a unified Guyana where Africans and Indians both see themselves as Black people with common interests can and must be achieved, but to be honest I am not too hopeful that I will see that in my lifetime. It's up to the generations coming up when that will happen, cos many of the adults on both sides are well set in their ways and are not about to change their low opinion of one another.
There are other Guyanese who have posted on these boards so maybe one of them could come with another angle on this. I should make clear that I haven't lived in Guyana since 1985 and the last time I was there was a year ago. People who been consistenly living in Guyana recently might have a more informed perspective than me.