CARICOM briefed on Guyana-Venezuela border situation
by Sharief Khan
THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is being briefed on developments in the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela and this country's diplomats are lobbying Guyana's position overseas, Foreign Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee said yesterday. He told the Chronicle CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin Carrington has been kept informed and he was in touch with member states "mainly to keep them abreast of what is happening." Rohee said he over the weekend received an official note from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reiterating that military moves last week on the disputed border were routine anti-drug operations and not an attempt to raid the mineral rich Essequibo region. Venezuela claims the Essequibo in a border controversy dating back to the 19th century. Responding to Guyanese concern over the military movements in the border region on October 5, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying: "The Venezuelan National Guard was carrying out routine operations against illicit drug trafficking last Tuesday, without intentions to make an incursion into the Essequibo region." "In no way should (the mobilisation) be interpreted as an unfriendly act by the Government of Venezuela," it added. Rohee is to meet parliamentary parties this afternoon at his ministry to brief them on the developments. He said the main opposition People's National Congress (PNC) was among parties invited to attend. The Foreign Minister, in an interview, said "we are not being alarmist in any way. We need not be alarmist but we need to share the information and let (CARICOM) know what is emanating from Caracas and what is emanating from Georgetown so that they can draw their own conclusions." He said his ministry has provided the parties invited to today's meeting documents on the issue, explaining "I will be letting them know how the situation evolved...what are some steps that were taken and future perspectives on our relations with Venezuela in the context of functional cooperation and the McIntyre process." Rohee said Sir Alister McIntyre, the United Nations Good Officer overseeing talks between the two countries aimed at arriving at a mutually satisfactory solution, has also been fully briefed. McIntyre, a former CARICOM Secretary General, has been kept informed since the Government learnt of the Venezuela military activities last week Tuesday. He has also been advised about the assurances from Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Mr. Vincente Rangel, and through the note verbale from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, that the border exercise was not an unusual movement by the Venezuelan military. "I have had very positive feedback from (Sir Alister)...he has done what he has to do...the authorities have been informed, they have taken note of what is happening and they are dealing with it in the way they deem fit", the Guyana Foreign Minister said. He said that from reports he has had, all was quiet on the border, adding "we now have a new dispensation prevailing" with the assurances from the Venezuelans. "We hope that this will hold for as long as we can work to have it hold." Rohee and Rangel spoke on the telephone last week and the weekend official note from the Venezuelans reiterated that the mobilisation of their National Guard in the border region with Guyana was related to the fight against the trafficking of illegal drugs "and on no occasion must be interpreted as an unfriendly act of the Government of Venezuela." The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said it "wishes to reiterate the ties of friendship which unite both countries and its willingness to resolve in a peaceful, practical and satisfactory manner, the territorial dispute, in accordance with what was foreseen in the Geneva Agreement of 1966 and in the framework of the mechanism of the Good Offices of the Secretary General of the United Nations." Rohee said the two countries are hoping that meetings of the high-level bilateral commissions on drugs, culture, fisheries and health or education would be held before the end of the year. He acknowledged that Venezuela should have given advance notice of its anti-drugs operation in the border area and urged the relevant parties to ensure the mechanism for such notification is revived. Rohee said he has always supported a parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs but charged that the PNC has not been supportive. Foreign policy and diplomacy have become much more complex than what prevailed during the Cold War, he argued, noting that there were now several cross-border issues, including drugs and small arms trafficking and environmental and poverty problems. "...all those are now on the agenda of foreign ministers and we are dealing with economic and health issues..." Rohee said the complexities of the problems today will generate some criticism "but we have to be careful that when we are dealing with a problem like the (border) controversy, we do not use it as a political football." "And I believe this is precisely what is happening...people are using this controversy to win kudos, one way or the other...I don't know what is the point in doing that. "The kudos that must be won must be kudos for the people of Guyana...not for one political interest...because if you send signals abroad that one institution is not representing the country well compared to one time in the past, who benefits from that?" "And that's why we have always pursued a policy of being as inclusive as possible", Rohee argued. He said the Foreign Ministry has come a "very far way ever since the (late President Cheddi) Jagan put it on a particular path". "...I think the overwhelming majority of Foreign Service officers at this ministry are now dedicated and know exactly what they have to do, what the course is that government wants to go on to, and in so far as this particular problem is concerned...there are a lot of people out there and in the ministry who are prepared to give their best in terms of knowledge and expertise to help the government deal with the problem in a professional and in a timely and effective manner." He said the government's advantage was that it believes in inclusiveness and in democracy and foreign affairs was "not a one-man show". Guyana's heads of missions overseas have been given instructions since the latest development and "are doing their best and relying on friendly governments and multilateral institutions", including the UN, the Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States and the Association of Caribbean States, he said. "They know exactly where we stand on this issue", he stated. Rohee noted that Guyana is also current Chairman of the Group of 77 which has 137 member states "who understand what we stand for as a country." "It does not necessarily follow that when you click your finger that the Group of 77 will follow you...but if we did not have that kind of support, sympathy and respect out there, we would not be chairing the Group of 77", the Foreign Minister said.
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