New UN 'Good Officer' likely soon
GUYANA and Venezuela are considering a replacement for Sir Alister McIntyre, the outgoing United Nations `Good Officer' in the border controversy between the two countries. Foreign Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee last night said: "We have accepted the intention of Sir Alister to retire from the job...we are looking at a replacement." He declined to go into details but the Chronicle understands that a Barbados lawyer has been identified for the post which may be filled soon. Diplomatic sources said the name has been discussed by the United Nations with both countries and the Barbadian is likely to replace McIntyre. According to the sources, Guyana seems to have no objection to the person identified and the name is reportedly acceptable to Venezuela. McIntyre, a former Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, was appointed `Good Officer' by the UN Secretary General in 1989 to try to find a mutually acceptable solution to the controversy stemming from Venezuela's long-standing claim to the Essequibo. He has indicated that he wants to retire from the post because of other duties in the region and this was reportedly discussed when Rohee and Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Mr. Vincente Rangel met at the UN in New York last month. Rohee last week said McIntyre has been fully briefed by Guyana since Venezuela revived the controversy on the anniversary earlier this month of the 100th anniversary of the arbitral award that demarcated the current border. Meanwhile, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon has said that the recent movements by the Venezuela National Guard in the border region were not serious enough to warrant Guyana to stop sourcing oil supplies from that neighbouring country. According to the top Government official, Guyana's oil engagement with the Venezuelans is a spin-off from an arrangement with Mexico. "These (agreements) are dictated by...the special agreement that the Guyanese people and this administration benefit in their engagement with the Mexicans. It is also a market phenomenon," Luncheon explained. "It is only an assessment of whether the concessionary arrangement that has been brokered out of the Sante Fe agreement as opposed to what the market can offer...that would determine whether the move to abandon the Sante Fe agreement would be appropriate in this setting", he said. At a press conference Friday, Luncheon, also Secretary to the Defence Board, said he had received no requests from the Army to boost its troops at the Guyana/Venezuela border. He said the context in which the incidents took place there did not warrant a full fledged investigation. "In those celebrated instances when they have been associated with recognised activities of a national security nature, they have been investigated, not the gunfire, but the event itself. Generally, those isolated incidents, they're very infrequently reported and even more infrequently documented," the Secretary to Cabinet reported. "We maintain an inventory of such reports; but in many instances they have proven to be anecdotal and there is very little evidence that can be obtained when these incidents are reported along the fields and along the channels that represent the Guyanese habit. "At this point in time, I could only make reference to recognised border incidents where gunfire may or may not have been exchanged and warranted active investigation." Rohee has received an official note from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry saying that military moves about two weeks ago in the border area were routine anti-drug operations and not an attempt to raid the mineral-rich Essequibo region. 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."
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