Nothing wrong with providing Beal document copy to Chavez -President Stabroek News September 5, 2000 The Beal Agreement is a public document already sent to the main opposition parties and as such there is nothing controversial about providing a copy to the Venezuelan government. President Bharrat Jagdeo repeated to reporters yesterday that he had given President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez, a copy of the agreement that envisages a satellite launching base in the Waini river region, when the two met at the Heads of South America summit in Brasilia, Brazil last week. He said this was done to reassure Chavez that there was no military component to the project. Jagdeo said the government did not subscribe to keep any agreement secret once it had been concluded although during any negotiations it was prudent not to make the matter public. Jagdeo denied that by giving the agreement to his counterpart Guyana was acknowledging Venezuela's influence over the region; documents and agreements were sent to other governments every day, he said. The Venezuelan government already knew the details of the document as it was in receipt of the Guyana Is First affidavit accompanying that group's court action. Venezuela, by publicly being given a copy of the agreement could not now misrepresent the issues, Jagdeo claimed. Chavez had told the media last Wednesday in Brasilia that the site would be a fort from which rockets could be launched. Jagdeo said he had reassured Chavez that no American base would be allowed there but the project was needed as a boost to Guyana's economy. He said he had sent the document to all the parliamentary parties some months ago and it was available to the media. It was not necessary for a document to be laid in Parliament to become public, but he said the government would look at the parliamentary schedule for a suitable date for doing so. Jagdeo mentioned that a number of Guyanese trawlers had lately been detained by the Venezuela Coast Guard possibly in Guyana's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Up until his visit to Brasilia, it had not been possible to ascertain the trawlers exact coordinates but he had raised the matter with Chavez in Brasilia. Chavez had told him there were no directives from his government to harass Guyanese fishing vessels. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today