Protest Venezuelan troop moves at all international fora - Nadir
By Gitanjali Singh
The United Force (TUF) has joined the call for all Guyanese to condemn the unannounced military exercises by the Venezuelan National Guard on Tuesday on the frontier with Guyana. It has also called on the government to protest this act at every international fora and with every international institution. In a letter to Foreign Minister, Clement Rohee, which this newspaper has seen, TUF leader, Manzoor Nadir said that he and his party "view this latest development by Venezuela as a very serious threat to our national security and to the integrity of our border." "We find the explanation by Venezuela, as issued in your press release, a poor excuse for this blatant act of intimidation," adding that "had there been a genuine anti-narcotic exercise in that border area, the Venezuelans owed us the courtesy of a notice." "If there were serious drug activities in the area, then the issue of cooperation between two countries, against the drug trade, would have commenced earlier." TUF said that given the timing of the exercises as well as the fact that another such act took place close to the beginning of 1999: "we call on you and your government to lay strong objections at every international fora and in every international institution."
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