Senior Counsel and Member of Parliament Roysdale Forde is calling on “all Guyanese to stand strong on the eve of Venezuelan referendum;” a part of that country’s aggressive strategy to covet Essequibo, two-thirds of Guyana. On Sunday Venezuelans will be voting on five questions, namely:
| 1. Do you agree to reject by all means in accordance with the law, the line fraudulently interposed by the 1899 Paris Arbitration Award, which seeks to deprive us of our Guayana Esequiba? |
| 2. Do you support the 1966 Geneva Agreement as the only valid legal instrument to reach a practical and satisfactory solution for Venezuela and Guyana regarding the controversy over the territory of Guayana Esequiba? |
| 3. Do you agree with Venezuela’s historical position of not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to resolve the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba? |
| 4. Do you agree to oppose, by all legal means, Guyana’s claim to unilaterally dispose of a sea pending delimitation, illegally and in violation of international law? |
| 5. Do you agree with the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state and the development of an accelerated plan for comprehensive care for the current and future population of that territory, which includes, among others, the granting of citizenship and identity card? Venezuela, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement and International Law, consequently incorporating said state on the map of Venezuelan territory? |
In conversation with Village Voice News, Forde, who is Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, says while Venezuelans will be asked to answer questions in their wrongful claim of Guyana’s territory and in the face of heightened aggressions by the Nicolás Maduro Government, “the emphasis in Guyana must be unity, irrespective of the outcome.”
According to him, whatever is the outcome Guyana must remain solidly united against Venezuela’s aggression. “We must stand strongly against the Venezuelans aggression, their desire to annex Guyana.” Going further, Forde says political affiliation or social circumstances must not stand in the way of all Guyanese unifying against this aggression.
The parliamentarian says Guyanese must remain cognizant that even if Maduro fails at the ballot our circumstance has changed, because Venezuelans, regardless of their politics, see Essequibo as theirs- “they have been fed a diet of deception for decades.” According to him, it is important for Guyanese to recognise until the Government of Venezuela accepts the 1899 Arbitral Award, delineating the boundary between the two countries as the “full, perfect and final settlement,” we have an issue on our hands.
Alluding to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Friday “Venezuela must refrain from taking any action which would modify” the status quo, Forde says this is another victory for the Rule of Law and the Guyanese people. On Friday, the Court in its Order, which has binding effect, indicates the following provisional measures:
“(1) Unanimously, Pending a final decision in the case, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Co-operative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over that area;
“(2) Unanimously, Both Parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.”
Calling on Guyanese to say the course, that is, hold the legal line in ensuring and maintaining resolution on the controversy, the senior counsel says it is not lost on him the Venezuelan government may seek other approaches, including “bilateral agreement.”
Recently, in apparent effort to circumvent the ICJ, Venezuela has been insisting the controversy be resolved bilaterally. Forde, however, is adamant Guyana should not concede to Venezuela’s wish and “the decision by the APNU/AFC Government of David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo to approach the ICJ to uphold the Award remains the only way to resolve the matter.”
This matter must be adjudicated in a court of law and remains the only practical solution, the senior counsel asserts. “Our solution remains with the ICJ and even if the ICJ rules in our favour, which I am confident will happen, it shouldn’t make us complacent. We have seen the experience of the convenient for the 1899 Award, the 1960s disconnect, and the present climate of aggression, which Guyanese must not take lightly or dismiss.”
And on the eve of the referendum Forde says he urges all Guyanese, to affirm the immortal words Mr. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham uttered in the National Assembly on 17th July 1968, during his presentation on the border controversy, that:
“In the final analysis even if we have no friends with weapons, or prepared to supply us with weapons, or assist us with weapons, we the Guyanese people have faith in ourselves, and when it comes to the Venezuelans, to every thousand blows, we shall be prepared to deal one death blow and even if we have to die, we shall die not like hogs, but like men.”
