Active borders
The Government now finds itself with two border problems active at the same time, with Venezuela issuing strongly worded statements about the Beal concession, and Suriname doing likewise - albeit in a rather more menacing tone - about the CGX oil concession in the Corentyne. Army Chief Glenn Sedney of Suriname has now upped the ante with his remarks to a television station in the neighbouring republic on Friday that "it has to be clear that the [Surinamese] army will not just sit and watch what happens." We didn't get to this point overnight, of course. It has taken us years to get here. Years without a border policy. Years without a national consensus on frontier matters. Years without the involvement of the Parliamentary opposition in crafting a unified approach to boundary issues. Years without bringing the necessary professional skills to bear on the problem. Years of misunderstanding the complexity of the border question. Years of giving off signals of weakness. Years of ambivalence about the army, leaving it underfunded and ill-equipped. Years of facilitating the destruction of the Foreign Ministry's institutional memory. Years of naivety about our neighbouring states' intentions. And now we are in an election year (or at least, a pre-election year), when political divisions are normally at their height. It could have been predicted, therefore, that this would be the time when our neighbours would have been more tempted than usual to apply pressure on Guyana. After all, they would have calculated that the Government would find difficulty in achieving unity on most subjects in this particular year. And then the Beal Deal drops like a ripe mango into the Venezuelan lap. Under normal circumstances when the Venezuelans object to foreign investment in the Essequibo, the concessions are not particularly contentious as far as Guyanese are concerned. On this occasion, however, the terms of the agreement have divided the nation, and our neighbour to the west has homed in on the dissension (particularly where the sale of land is concerned) like a heat-seeking missile. It is perfectly true, of course, that even the most die-hard local opponent of the Beal contract regards the matter of the concession as coming wholly within Guyanese jurisdiction, and Venezuela as having no right of objection at all. Nevertheless, Caracas knows that there is not likely to be any accord between the Government and its opponents on the Beal matter, and as such, therefore, it calculates rightly or wrongly that it could become even more difficult than usual for this country to achieve national consensus on frontier matters in general. Suriname's appearance in the fray may be an act of opportunism, although it cannot be ruled out that she is operating in collusion with Venezuela. Whatever the case, the problem in the east has escalated rather more quickly than has the one in the west. Minister Rohee on Friday sat at his press conference dealing with Suriname flanked by the Chief-of-Staff of the GDF and the acting Commissioner of Police, the first of whom was reported as declaring that the army was prepared for any eventuality. Whether it was the best of wisdom to involve the security forces in a briefing at this stage, when according to Minister Rohee he was trying to create the environment which would contribute to the defusing of any tension, is perhaps moot. As it is, the Suriname army has had its say and there is suddenly less room for diplomatic manoeuvre than there was only a day earlier. And how should the Government proceed? Minister Rohee indicated at his briefing that the administration intended to consult with a number of individuals and organizations, including the parliamentary opposition parties on the issue. He said he expected that in the course of those consultations and briefings, his Ministry would be able to tap into the institutional memory about the issue which was not available within the Ministry itself. Whatever his strengths, Minister Rohee has never displayed an aptitude for building consensus, and has never appeared willing to embrace the counsel proffered by professionals or, for that matter, the opposition either where many of the diplomatic skills that he needs lie. In addition, he will be seeking consultations in a vacuum. There is no framework in place which would allow for the input of those who fall outside the party circle, whether professional or political; no Parliamentary Border Committee has been set up, for example. Everything, therefore, is still at the whim of the Minister. And as for the institutional memory, it crumbled on his watch, and he has made no effort that anyone is aware of to rebuild it again. So now we are back to ad hoc responses in a historical void, in a situation which has the potential to deteriorate. Previous Presidents were directly involved in border decisions. This President would be well advised to do the same. Apart from seeking a crash course on the complexities of the frontier issue from a variety of sources, he will need to invite the leaders of the opposition parties to discuss institutional arrangements whereby there can be a political consensus on border matters, and skills from all quarters can be put at the disposal of the Government. Without this, the administration will continue to flounder.
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