Suriname
Editorial
Stabroek News
November 10, 2002
In our edition of October 27 we reported Attorney General Doodnauth Singh as having described the meeting of the National Border Commissions of Guyana and Suriname as successful. That this was possibly an over-sanguine assessment is illustrated by the fact that up until this point, no joint communique has been issued because the two sides cannot reach agreement on the language to be used in the statement. Put simply, if there is no agreement on language, then there is effectively no agreement on substance.
Mr Singh told this newspaper that on the question of the disputed maritime area, "an acceptable formula is being developed," which would include joint exploitation of resources. Hopefully, his optimism about the final outcome of the talks will be rewarded. However, past experience with Suriname negotiations as well as current signals from Paramaribo should indicate to him that a measure of caution - at least when making public pronouncements - is warranted.
At the same time as the joint meeting was in progress in Paramaribo, here in Georgetown at the Le Meridien Pegasus, Suriname displayed a map during the course of a documentary film showing the New River Triangle as part of its territory. The occasion was one effectively launching CARIFESTA VIII, and present in the audience was Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy. Earlier this year during an official visit to Paramaribo President Jagdeo had had a similar experience when visiting the Suriname national oil company, Staatsolie.
In addition to this latest incident, there is also the matter of the current atmosphere in Paramaribo, if reports from De Ware Tijd (DWT) and elsewhere are to be believed. Following the circulation of rumours in the neighbouring capital last month that there had been intrusions from the Guyanese side of the upper Corentyne into Surinamese territory on the right bank of the river, the Suriname Minister of Defence had been constrained to send some soldiers to investigate. Needless to say, nothing was found. However, according to Paramaribo sources the rumours occurred in a context where there has been a renewal of some clamour that Camp Jaguar (which, it is erroneously claimed, belongs to Suriname) should be re-occupied. In fact, according to DWT, an opposition Member of Parliament had laid a question in the house reflecting this view.
Whether these rumours were deliberately circulated by elements in the neighbouring state because they perceived Guyana to be at a low point is difficult to say. However, it cannot have escaped the attention of the Government in Paramaribo that the Guyana administration is seriously weakened, the nation is divided and there is an ongoing internal crisis which is absorbing the energies of the security forces.
It might also be recalled that the previous Suriname Government led by Mr Jules Wijdenbosch, used the CGX issue as a lever to try and extort a boundary concession from Guyana. It has to be borne in mind, therefore, that in order for there to be agreement on the matter of joint exploitation of marine resources in the area of overlap, Paramaribo will have to climb down from its original position. Since Suriname governments are always inherently at a disadvantage insofar as they are coalitions, it has to be asked whether President Venetiaan will be allowed to take his finger off the CGX pressure point by the opposition until Guyana has made some territorial concession at some level.
In addition, as in the case of Venezuela, the Surinamese public have been led to believe that there is greater merit in their country's territorial claims than is in fact the case. However responsible the Government in Paramaribo might be, it will still find it difficult to disabuse the population of whatever boundary illusions it might harbour. That particular tiger, once mounted, is always a problem to dismount.
That Paramaribo is still seeking some border advantage is suggested by even Mr Singh's few comments. He did reveal that another issue discussed at the border commissions' meeting was the demilitarisation of the New River Triangle. It might be noted in passing that there has been no mention of the issue of the sovereignty of the Corentyne river and the harrassment of our nationals on that waterway being on the table. In recent years, Suriname has refused even to discuss the matter, claiming that the Corentyne is indisputably theirs. However, an unequivocal determination of that question awaits a final agreement. Are we to infer, therefore, that Guyana has conceded the river to Suriname?
And as for the demilitarisation of the New River Triangle, that is a quagmire of the Government's own creation. The demilitarisation of this particular area had been agreed by Messrs Burnham and Arron more than thirty years ago, following the eviction of Suriname troops from there. As a consequence of the accord, Mr Burnham, ever cautious nonetheless, had Camp Jaguar manned by National Service, and not army personnel. The current administration disbanded the National Service, without considering the implications for the policing of the New River Triangle, and replaced Camp Jaguar manpower with ranks of the GDF.
In January of this year President Jagdeo, apparently unbriefed, naively admitted at a Paramaribo press conference in response to a question from the Suriname media that Guyanese soldiers were in the Triangle, making clear at the same time that he had no apologies to make for the situation. So if the Government is now about to agree to pull the GDF out of the area, how is it proposing to monitor the New River? To remove all armed personnel from the zone is simply to invite adventurism from the other side of the river, and potentially to create a crisis of some dimensions.
Where the faulty map issue is concerned, it should be a Government position that whenever Guyanese officials at Surinamese expositions are exposed to images of the New River Triangle tacked on to the territory of our neighbour, they should walk out, and a formal complaint should be lodged. President Jagdeo should have done that earlier this year, and presumably he didn't because he was afraid of sabotaging the negotiations with President Venetiaan. Similarly, on this latest occasion, Suriname thought again it could get away with it because it is stringing Guyana out on the matter of the "language" of the joint communique. This form of 'blackmail' is unacceptable, carrying as it does the possible implication that Suriname is not negotiating altogether in good faith.
In a time of internal crisis like the present, there is need more than ever to keep a watchful eye on our borders, and to craft a coherent frontier policy. Just when is the Government going to get around to doing this?
