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Guyana’s President’s intention to attend a meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on December 14, 2023, with Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro, is a dangerous mistake that is inimical and harmful to our national interest. His government’s rationalization that the ICJ case and the border controversy will not be discussed strains credulity. It is an obvious subterfuge, a mere mendacity designed to mislead the nation to gain approval for Ali’s attendance.
Contrary to the government’s claim that Venezuela’s baseless claim to Essequibo and the ICJ case will not be on the agenda and will not be discussed, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, under whose auspices the meeting is being convened, expressly stated in his invitation letter to Ali and Maduro that the meeting is to discuss “matters consequential to the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.” This means the border matter is on the agenda.
Moreover, it is obvious that Ralph Gonsalves is doing Maduro’s bidding. On September 25, 2023, Maduro tweeted to Ali that there is only one way to resolve the border controversy, which it to meet face to face in a venue in the Caribbean to discuss this matter. Maduro titled his tweet “Dialogue For Essequibo.” This is exactly what Maduro expectes Ali do in St. Vincent – ” Dialogue For Essequibo.”
Why on earth is Ali going to St. Vincent, if not to discuss the controversy? To have coffee and biscuits with his country’s enemy; and discuss the different species of birds in St. Vincent?
The world knows Venezuela’s claim is not a genuine border dispute. The borders were settled in 1899. Venezuela signed that agreement. This a manufactured controversy by Venezuela out of greed for Guyana’s oil.
Therefore, attending the Meeting gives the world the impression that Guyana recognizes Maduro’s delusional contention as a legitimate dispute that necessitates resolution with interlocutors to mediate. It is incomprehensible that the Guyana government is myopically reverting to Venezuela’s dictate, back into a Good Officer setting, after a national determination that the Good Officer process derived no benefits for Guyana and failed to inspire a resolution.
In 2018, when the Granger Administration filled the instant case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Bharrat Jagdeo, as Opposition Leader, said on October 24, 2018, at a Press conference, that he hoped that the case was sanctioned by the UN Secretary General (UNSG) because the PPP’s position is that at every phase of this matter, the UN SG must be involved.
Now, Jagdeo and Ali have abandoned this position and are going it alone with Gonsalves pretending to be UNSG and Gòod Officer. Clearly this is extraneous to the Geneva Agreement and is a dangerous abandonment of our foreign policy of UNSG engagement.
The nation is already alarmed by Jagdeo’s admission that as President, he considered giving Venezuela part of Essequibo to create a pathway to the Atlantic Ocean. How can we trust the PPP on this matter when they have clandestinely attempted to arbitrarily make deals on behalf of our nation with Venezuela and those actions have been near treasonous?
In this context, I find the Opposition Leader’s support for the meeting, with the caveat; provided that the border controversy is not discussed, to be ridiculous. The Opposition Leader’s statement conveys a flawed position and an unsettling naivety, in light of the reason for the meeting provided by Gonsalves. Why else will the meeting be convened if not to discuss the controversy?
This is a serious matter, on which both the government and opposition have been inept, and have failed to consult with the people of Guyana who they represent. Clearly, Guyana is stuck is a morass of abysmal political leadership across the political spectrum.
The Opposition Leader’s support of the President’s attendance at the meeting is not only a mistake, it is abominable. The country is in the crucial phase of a juridical resolution. The matter is subjidice at the ICJ.
Simultaneously, Venezuela has virtually declared war on Guyana and is defying the provisional orders of the ICJ proscribing its warmongering. Why on earth is the President of Guyana, agreeing to attend a meeting under such duress and daily threats of force against Guyana?
Maduro has no chance of succeeding at the ICJ, in my view. Why would we compromise our strong judical prospect and international support, to give legitimacy to Maduro’s diatribe, referendum and bellicose rhetoric and actions?
Have we now adopted a feckless foreign policy of appeasement, that engenders backroom deals with cutthroat attention seeking socialists, who seem incapable of understanding that at this juncture, when the matter is subjidice, such a meeting is risky and inimical to Guyana’s national interests?
What is even more worrisome is the unfortunate and stunning agreement of the Opposition Leader, without first ensuring broad-based consultation in his party and the entire Parliamentary Opposition, APNU-AFC. This irresponsible position forced the AFC to issue its own, separate statement, calling for caution. The Opposition Leader’s failed leadership and an abandonment of coalition principles borders on being disqualifying.
The December 14, meeting should be aborted as its efficacy is impugnable. It is a contravention of the Geneva Agreement, and an assault on Guyana’s established foreign policy on the border controversy.
Most important, Guyanese do not trust Jagdeo, Ali and the PPP on this matter. Their tendency to be traitors is exceedingly ominous.
They might return from St. Vincent without Essequibo being a part of Guyana!
