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By Nicole Telford- Former Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff Ret’d Rear Admiral Dr Gary Best said Article 10 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reads: “The territory and other geographical spaces of the Republic are those which belonged to the Captaincy-General of Venezuela before the political transformation began on April 19, 1810, as amended by virtue of the treaties and arbitration awards which have not been vitiated with nullity.”
In a presentation at Cipriani Labour College in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, November 20, 2023, Best in his presentation explained to those in attendance that his research found “the Venezuelan constitution is of crucial importance, in that the 1899 Arbitration Award, which he said is a full, final and perfect settlement of the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.” The event aimed at sensitising the Caribbean region to the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy saw Best called out the greed of Venezuela and its actions which he believes can destabilise the region. To this end, Dr. Best said, “in fact, the 1899 arbitral award remained acceptable to Venezuela by its own Constitution.”
Giving context to his findings, he further stated that Venezuela became independent on 5th July 1811, eighty-eight (88) years before the 1899 arbitration award. And slavery ended in 1854, forty-three (43) years after independence. Dr. Best contended “important to note is the Republic of Venezuela comprises 23 states, none of which is the territory of Essequibo. This speaks to the consistency of the territory of Venezuela never comprising the territory of Essequibo over the history of the Venezuelan state.”
In analysing the dangerous and aggressive language used by Venezuelan officials in support of its referendum on Essequibo the former Chief of Staff said, “the fact that, of the 23 states in its constitution, there is no Essequibo, it is not beyond reason that such alarming actions may well be a ruse for President Maduro, via the expected ‘yes’ result to question 5 of the referendum, to argue, that he has the mandate to incorporate Essequibo into its constitution as the 24th state.”
The former Chief of Staff identified three particular areas where Venezuela’s aggression could destabilise the region. He said the regional implications would see territorial integrity instability via a change of land borders within South America, citing the tri-border point between Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil, and the possibility of dormant border issues within South America becoming issues once again.
New conflicts on maritime delimitations, potential arms race/build-up; and increased cost of doing the people’s business are likely consequences for the region and an increased active role for the Regional Security System, and, by extension increased per capita defence costs and its negative effects on positive growth in the region, Best stated.
