'Our cause is just' - Rohee
JUST CAUSE: from left, Army Chief of Staff, Major General Joe Singh, PNC leader, Mr. Desmond Hoyte, Foreign Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee and Dr. Frank Beckles, at the opening. (Rajesh Chintaman photo.) FOREIGN Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee yesterday declared Guyana's cause was just in the border controversy with Venezuela and a cross-section of Guyanese rallied to calls for unity around this position. Guyana will continue its policy of friendship and cooperation with Venezuela but these "overtures" should not be interpreted as "a sign of weakness on our part", he stressed. Leader of the main opposition People's National Congress (PNC), Mr. Desmond Hoyte, an often bitter critic of Rohee, sat next to the Foreign Minister at the opening session of a Georgetown forum on border issues. Also at the event at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown were Venezuela's Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Hector Azocar, United States Ambassador, Mr. James Mack and Army Chief of Staff, Major General Joe Singh. The symposium on `The Genesis of Territorial Issues and the Evolution of a Frontiers' Policy' ended with a resolution calling on Guyanese to unite across all differences to defend the country. The event was organised by `Guyana is First', a group of concerned Guyanese citizens. The resolution declared that "the borders of Guyana are inviolable, that the claims on this country's territory from east and west, are without merit or justice." In a widely-welcomed opening address, Rohee said recent events in Venezuela "on the surface associated with the centenary of the 1899 arbitral award (which defined the current border) have underscored the fact that on that side, positions and attitudes have not changed in any fundamental way despite the passage of time." Venezuela, for the anniversary, revived the controversy, claiming the award was "null and an irritant". Rohee said Venezuela had maintained "relentless uncompromising pressure to weaken our will, destroy our spirit and enforce divisions among us when our only strength lies in total solidarity and national unity on this issue." Noting Guyana's limited options as a small nation, Rohee said that despite its size, this country has since independence from Britain in 1966 been able to "quite successfully...blunt Venezuela's designs on our territory." "We have been able to do so because we have derived strength from the very legitimacy of our position and because our cause is just", the Foreign Minister declared. This was also due to international and national support, Rohee said, reiterating that Guyana will continue to target international backing for its position. He referred to "economic pressure" from Venezuela since independence, including attempts to prevent development in the Essequibo with international assistance, but noting that Guyana has been actively pursuing a policy of friendship and cooperation with her neighbour to the west. "The argument we used was simple. If programmes of economic, social and cultural cooperation were actively pursued and developed, then discussions in relation to the controversy would more than likely take place in a rational and less confrontational atmosphere", he said. The government was pursuing this approach despite difficulties in implementation from Venezuela but Rohee signalled the administration here was not likely to drop this policy. "I can assure you, however, that these overtures to friendship and cooperation should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness on our part. "It has not been in the past and it is not so today. We will continue to seek with whatever means that are at our disposal to extend the hand of friendship to Venezuela. "But we will not do so at the expense of compromising our integrity", the Foreign Minister declared. He urged that in "light of our historical experiences, we must and will remain vigilant and in a constant state of preparedness for any eventuality." The international community, "carefully targeted, will be constantly kept aware of our resistance to actions by Venezuela that could result in international chaos and we will seek their support for our efforts", Rohee said. The forum sought to educate and motivate participants on matters regarding border issues and contribute towards the formulation of national policy, organisers said. In his address, Rohee said equal emphasis must be placed on matters such as national sensitisation and education, the strengthening of relationships between regions, in particular those that have borders with Guyana's neighbours. Additionally, central Government should strengthen its capacity to withstand economic, social and cultural pressures from across the borders. "...we need national unity and a clear and continuing show of national consensus on the question of our borders and particularly our border with Venezuela," the Foreign Minister declared. He announced that he will be urging the next sitting of Parliament to address the issue of national unity and in that context seek to have a Parliamentary resolution effected. The discussions centred on presentations on `The History of the Boundaries: Pre-Independence to now'; `Diplomatic Initiatives'; `Current and Future Issues, Challenges and Perspectives': Indigenous Issues, Economic Development and Expectations of Youth.' Rohee noted that presenters were experts in the field of border relations, either professionally, through diplomatic relations or by military insights, all honed by years of practical experience in their respective fields. Panellists included Mr. Cedric Joseph; Sister Mary Menezes; Attorney-at-law Dr. Barton Scotland; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Rashleigh Jackson; Dr. Rishee Thakur, lecturer at the University of Guyana; Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, Guyana's representative to the United Nations Good Office process relating to the border controversy; Mr. Rudy Collins, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Mark Kirton, University of Guyana; Ms. Jean La Rose and Mr. George Jardim, Chairman, Private Sector Commission. Among others at the opening were Prime Minister Sam Hinds and other members of the diplomatic corps. Rohee recalled that President Bharrat Jagdeo, within recent weeks, has been making "renewed calls for national unity, for placing increased emphasis on what binds us together as Guyanese regardless of race, colour or creed, and for the exercise of greater determination, through a policy of inclusiveness, to ensure the economic and social advancement of this very young nation." He noted that the maintenance of the sanctity of its borders and the preservation of Guyana's territorial integrity remain a principal objective of this country's foreign policy. Also, there should be pride and passion in the defence of Guyana's territorial integrity and a sense of comfort, induced by the absence of external threats, in a peaceful development within secure borders of the national patrimony. But this would require an "ongoing process of information and education about all aspects of our frontier policy and the threat that exist to our territorial integrity", the Foreign Minister said. The task is not for any one Government alone, but there must be an "all-inclusive national effort involving all sectors of society," Rohee added. He said that Brazil and countries in Africa and Europe, where there are artificially determined but now quite settled borders, "would be thoroughly opposed to any country that seeks, as Venezuela has been attempting to do, to unilaterally abrogate a freely determined boundary, particularly one that has been existing and internationally accepted for a hundred years as ours has been." Dr. Frank Beckles who welcomed the audience, said `Guyana Is First' is a group of concerned Guyanese citizens who began meeting regularly in April this year. Members are committed to a mission statement of "To heal the nation and to promote and sponsor a destiny of hope and well- being for all Guyanese", he said.
|