CARICOM Chairman 'disturbed' at Guyana exclusion from Venezuela oil offer
KINGSTOWN, St.Vincent, (CANA) -- Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Sir James Mitchell, said yesterday he was "disturbed" by the exclusion of Guyana from a new preferential oil sales arrangement being offered by Venezuela to some Caribbean and Central American states.
Mitchell, Prime Minister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines -- whose country has been identified as one of the "beneficiary" from what has been described as the `Caracas Energy Agreement', told CANA he would be in communication with his CARICOM colleagues on the issue.
"What is required is dialogue to avoid the exclusion becoming a reality. Guyana, after all, is a member state of CARICOM and faces the problems of so many of us in having to import oil at the current burdensome cost", said Mitchell.
He said he would prefer not to say too much at this time since he felt that "quiet diplomacy" should be given a chance between CARICOM and the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez to reflect on the implications of excluding its border neighbour, Guyana, from the cheaper oil sales arrangement.
Prime Minister Mitchell was at the time reacting to a letter from the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, who, in informing him of the development, noted a statement attributed to Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Vincente Rangel.
Rangel was quoted by the Venezuelan newspaper, "El Universal", as saying that "oil has always been a political weapon over the years", and that for now Guyana will be excluded from the arrangement "because we have talks of another nature".
Venezuela has a century-old claim to some two thirds of Guyana's 83,000 square miles that ignores the award of an 1899 international tribunal which had ruled on the demarcation of existing internationally recognised borders.
Under the proposed `Caracas Energy Agreement', details of which have not yet been made public, Venezuela plans on selling an additional 80,000 barrels of oil daily to a number of Caribbean and Central American states at concessionary terms to ease their problems resulting from current oil imports.
The Caribbean countries identified to benefit from the arrangement are: Cuba, Belize, Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname - which has a territorial dispute with Guyana - St.Lucia and St.Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Foreign Minister of Guyana, Clement Rohee, in urging CARICOM's solidarity to oppose the planned exclusion from the preferential oil deal, last week likened the Caracas proposal to a "pieces of silver" attempt to foster divisions within the region.
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