Guyana protests to Venezuela, Suriname -opposition parties briefed By Patrick Denny Stabroek News October 13, 1999 The Government of Guyana has officially protested to the Government of Venezuela about the unannounced operations last week of the Venezuelan National Guard on the border during which there was an intrusion into Guyana's territory. It has also protested to the Surinamese authorities about the incident last Thursday in the Corentyne River, where the Surinamese Coast Guard intercepted four speed boats 200 yards from Guyana's shore. Meanwhile, the opposition parliamentary parties were briefed yesterday afternoon by Foreign Minister, Clement Rohee, about the incidents on the borders with Venezuela and Suriname. There was agreement among them and Rohee that a special session of the National Assembly should be convened as a demonstration of national unity. At that sitting it is expected that a resolution would be passed with the support of all the parties reaffirming Guyana's position on the 1899 Arbitral Award as a full, perfect and final settlement of its border with Venezuela. It is likely that a motion calling for a Standing Committee on Border Issues would also be passed. At the session with the parties, Rohee related the sequence of events related to the incidents at Ankoko, Imbotero and Kaikan on the border between Venezuela and Guyana, his interaction with his Venezuelan counterpart about these incidents and the responses he had received in formal correspondence on the issue. Rohee told Stabroek News yesterday through his secretary that he had also expressed his government's serious concern about the activities of the National Guard to the Charge d'affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy when he was called in to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He indicated that the response, he had received from Caracas to the Note Verbale did not address the specific concerns raised and that a subsequent correspondence seeking an answer had been sent. Rohee did not brief the party representatives on the statement by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in which he had said that steps had been taken by his government to bring the border controversy to the negotiating table. Rohee had also declined to comment on the statement, when the issue was raised by Stabroek News in a query to him, stating that he could not speak for the Venezuelan president. About the incident in the Corentyne River which occurred last Thursday, Rohee told the meeting yesterday that a Note Verbale had been sent to the Surinamese government seeking an explanation about it. The Surinamese government is yet to respond to it. In this instance, Surinamese ambassador, Dr Humphrey Hasrat, was not summoned to the Foreign Ministry. In the incident in the Corentyne River which is the border between Guyana and Suriname, four speed boats were intercepted by Surinamese Coast Guard vessels about 200 yards from Guyana's shore. The boats and their passengers were escorted back to Nickerie on the Suriname side of the river after warning shots were reportedly fired. In the events on the western border, Venezuelan helicopters penetrated Guyana's airspace and shots were fired from Ankoko Island, half of which is illegally occupied by Venezuelan troops. Present at yesterday's briefing were attorney-at-law, Lloyd Joseph, representing the PNC, while parliamentarians Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Matthew Charlie represented the Alliance for Guyana and The United Force respectively. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples