Opposition calls on Gov’t to be inclusionary in handling border controversy

The Opposition, A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), is calling on the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government to change its unilateral approach in managing the border controversy. At a press conference Thursday, Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, said under Venezuela’s escalating recklessness, the PPP government can no longer afford to act alone with uncertainty, inadequacy, and hesitancy – there is a need for a national approach to this crisis.  Norton warned “with the new and dangerous moves by a desperate [Nicolás] Maduro since the referendum, we call on the Guyana government to urgently lobby the international community to reject Venezuela’s lawless establishment of the purported state of ‘Guayana Esequiba.’ This lobbying effort must be supported by a written aide memoire outlining the ICJ’s rulings and Venezuela’s violation of those rulings, inter alia. The international community must be left in no doubt that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has embarked on an aggressive and destabilizing exercise, which could have far-reaching repercussions across the Latin America and Caribbean region.” 

The full statement follows:

THE GOVERNMENT CAN NO LONGER ACT ALONE WITH UNCERTAINTY AND INADEQUACY

As we stated in our Press Statement yesterday [Wednesday]: “the Parliamentary Opposition totally rejects the action taken by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to create an entity, the “integral defence zone” called “Guayana Esequiba.” This development is not only illegal and abhorrent but has dangerous implications for the existing territorial controversy and represents a flouting of the recent decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Above all, this represents a major threat to the peace and stability of the region.”

Against this background, we wish to re-issue our call for the Government of Guyana to:

i.          Recapitalize the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to ensure it has the equipment and other resources to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our homeland.

ii.          Deploy special envoys to key institutions and countries of the world to explain the justness of our position and to re-emphasize our commitment to a peaceful resolution to the controversy.

iii.          Establish a high-level Border Security Commission, comprising the Parliamentary Opposition, other key political and civil society stakeholders, as well as experts in international law, national security, and diplomacy.

iv.          Take measures to curb the further influx of Venezuelan migrants into Essequibo, noting that one of Venezuela’s strategies seems to be to populate Essequibo with Venezuelans in pursuance of its spurious claim to our territory.

v.          Gather and share accurate information on the number, location, and citizenship status of Venezuelan migrants currently in Guyana. Apart from the children of Guyanese who are entitled to become citizens of Guyana, there must be a halt of the issuance of birth certificates and national ID cards to Venezuelans.

The government has either not heeded our advice or has moved in a half-hearted manner. Under Venezuela’s escalating recklessness, the PPP government can no longer afford to act alone with uncertainty, inadequacy, and hesitancy – there is a need for a national approach to this crisis.

With the new and dangerous moves by a desperate Maduro since the referendum, we call on the Guyana government to urgently lobby the international community to reject Venezuela’s lawless establishment of the purported state of “Guayana Esequiba.” This lobbying effort must be supported by a written aide memoire outlining the ICJ’s rulings and Venezuela’s violation of those rulings, inter alia. The international community must be left in no doubt that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has embarked on an aggressive and destabilizing exercise, which could have far-reaching repercussions across the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The government must urgently engage the domestic media and all Guyanese to reject Venezuela’s purported establishment of the so-called “Guayana Esequiba” and continue to administer our Essequibo as we have been lawfully doing in the last one hundred and twenty-four years. Essequibo is ours and we must continue to issue licenses and protect Guyanese and other businesses in our Essequibo.

Venezuela’s claim to have the right to issue licenses to businesses in Essequibo must be rejected by Guyana and a full-fledged campaign must be launched to maintain the status quo and Guyana’s control over our Essequibo. The Parliamentary Opposition’s support for such actions is guaranteed.

Guyana must deal with Venezuela as an adversary that is hell bent on cheating us out of territory that has been legally Guyana’s as a result of the Arbitral Award of 1899 which constitutes a full and perfect settlement of the border between Guyana and Venezuela.

We call on the people of Guyana to stand firm. We in the Parliamentary Opposition will continue to do all in our power to defend our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The Parliamentary Opposition wishes to register our support to our arm forces and to reassure them of our support. In addition, we call on the government to bring to fruition Article 33 of the Guyana Constitution which states, “It is the duty of every citizen to defend the State.”

The Parliamentary Opposition wishes to place on record our appreciation for the support of the international community and many political opposition parties in the Caribbean region that are openly in support of Guyana against Venezuela’s spurious claim to our Essequibo.