GUEST EDITORIAL–Jamaica Observer
Venezuela, while winning Caribbean hearts for its highly appreciated PetroCaribe deal which has helped us through one of the world's worst economic crises, is foolishly pursuing a centuries-old claim to huge parts of Guyana.
There is hardly a better example of Robert Louis Stephenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the bright and dark sides co-existing in one person, in this case one country.
It is highly unlikely that any country is going to give up parts of its territory to any other claimant without going to war–a war that could turn out to be more costly than the value of the land being sought. Outmatched militarily as it is, Guyana yesterday deployed troops near to its western borders, in answer to the earlier amassing of troops, backed by missiles, by Venezuela to its eastern border.
Venezuela has been reported as saying that the activity in the eastern part of the country was an operational exercise, related apparently to claims that Guyanese have crossed their borders illegally. But missile deployment would hardly be warranted to stop illegal migrants. Not to mention the suspension of talks towards the appointment of a Venezuelan ambassador to Georgetown.
News reports quoted chief of staff of the Guyana Defence Force Brigadier Mark Phillips as saying its own deployment of troops is geared towards defining "acts of aggression and incursion" at the border.
Venezuela has renewed its claim to the mineral and forest-rich Essequibo region and all of the Atlantic Sea off the Essequibo region of Guyana, that would include the oil-rich Stabroek Block, where American oil giant Exxon Mobil in May found a "significant" reserve of high-quality crude oil in one of the two wells it dug in the Liza-1 drill site.
While all this is going on, Venezuela has declared itself a friend of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), of which Guyana is an integral member. At the end of their annual summit in Barbados in July this year, Caricom countries reaffirmed the "long-standing, deep and wide-ranging friendship between Caricom and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
Guyana is also a member of the Group of 77 in the United Nations where there is agreement that disputes or disagreements will be settled peacefully, as enshrined in the Charter of the UN. The Spanish-speaking country could not take military action against Guyana without threatening its relationship with Caricom and the UN.
The UN is hoping to broker a meeting with Guyanese President David Granger and his Venezuelan counterpart Mr Nicolas Maduro on the margins of the UN General Assembly to be held later this month in New York.
Guyana maintains its position that it settled this territorial matter 116 years ago and complains that the continuing Venezuelan claim is affecting Guyana's development in a serious way, scaring away investors and creating an atmosphere of tension and suspicion. President Granger says his country is no longer interested in the sterile good officer process but instead will be seeking to resolve the dispute through the courts.
No good will come of Venezuela's flexing of muscles. In these modern times, it would be far better for Venezuela to seek to enter into commercial deals with Guyana which badly needs investment to develop the disputed regions.