Venezuela objects to site of proposed satellite operation - Rohee to verify
by Gitanjali Singh
The Venezuelan government is objecting to the setting up of a satellite launch site in the Essequibo by Beal Aerospace Technologies, contending that the Waini is part of its "reclamation zone". "... We have an objection to the intention of mounting the aerospace base in the territory of reclamation," Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jose Vincente Rangel, was reported to have said in an interview with the Venezuelan daily newspaper, El Nacional last Tuesday. Guyana's Foreign Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, said last week that he would seek to verify whether this was indeed the position of the Venezuelan government when the Guyana delegation attended the Latin America/Caribbean/European Union Summit in Rio, Brazil, this week. Rohee said that at the recent 29th General Assembly of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Guatemala, Rangel had asked about the project but had raised no objections to it. He said he had informed Rangel that the discussions were still in the early stages and that the project was seen as one which would improve the fortunes of Guyana economically. He also indicated to Rangel that any concerns about the environment could be dealt with at the level of the bilateral committee on investment and the environment, set up under the bilateral commission between the two states. As of now, Rohee said, the Guyana government was open to sharing information with any of its neighbours on this project, if such information was requested. However, he noted that the discussions on the project were still young and full information was not readily available to forward to anyone. Additionally, Rohee said, the investment was taking place within Guyana's jurisdiction and the government would not be volunteering information to anyone for fear of this being wrongly interpreted as Guyana having accountability to another state. Rohee indicated that any voluntary information-sharing on his ministry's part would have to be as a result of an instruction from Cabinet. But what if Rangel confirmed next week that Venezuela would oppose the investment? "I will transmit that information to Cabinet and see where we take it from there," the minister replied. Meanwhile, David Spoede, general counsel and head of government relations of Beal Aerospace Technologies, last week confirmed that an indirect approach had been made to apprise the Venezuelan government of Beal's interest in Guyana, given concerns about the effects on the proposed environmental treaty. He indicated that prior to his and Wade Gates's (Beal's director of corporate affairs) recent visit to Guyana, contact had been made with the US Embassy in Guyana to arrange a courtesy visit to the Venezuelan Ambassador in Guyana. However, Spoede said that the response was that the embassy did not think that such a visit was necessary. The Government of Guyana last year signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Venezuela to negotiate an environmental treaty. Asked whether the Government of Guyana had offered any assurances of diplomatic approaches to facilitate this investment in that area to Beal Aerospace, Spoede said the company had not asked for any and none had been offered. Rohee said that when Rangel was here recently, he had indicated that his government did not have a hidden agenda where Guyana was concerned. Rohee said that as such, the government was dealing with the Venezuelans in good faith. "We believe in being friends with our neighbours and we do not see information sharing as a problem," he asserted. However, he said the issue was simply one of when was the time right to share information.
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