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There is reservation about President Irfaan Ali attending a meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in St Vincent. This meeting held Thursday came just over a week of President Maduro announcing the annexation of Essequibo. And this annexation was done despite an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), called the World Court. The ICJ had ordered that neither Guyana nor Venezuela does anything that would disturb the situation as it stands.
Ahead of the Venezuela referendum, Maduro massed troops and tanks across the border from Guyana. He had also begun constructing an airstrip across the border from Eteringbang in the Cuyuni. Tensions were high in Guyana, so high that people who lived in the North West Region began leaving the area. The more affluent boarded aircraft to the city. Others loaded their belongings on the steamer service between the North West and the city.
But sometimes help is always around the corner. Brazil, the military superpower in the region, massed troops and armament on the southern border shared by Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil. The Brazilians were making it clear that Venezuela does not cross over into Guyana by the only road link in that part of the world. That nullified the use of tanks and trucks and whatever armament countries use in times of war. Not long after, Maduro withdrew his troops from Guyana’s western border.
The tension eased somewhat until the United States Southern Command announced that it was going to be flying over the Essequibo. That further eased the tension felt in Guyana. But it rose again when a Guyana Defence Force helicopter crashed in the area. People began to ask whether the Venezuelans had shot it down. That rumour persisted.
Some people explained that the chopper was some distance from the border and could not have been shot down by the Venezuelans unless they were using fighter jets or some military equipped aircraft. In the end when the chopper was found on the ground with two survivors, people began to breathe easier. Of course, Maduro took to his pulpit to harangue the Guyanese media. He said that they accused him of shooting down the chopper. In Guyana, there were no such official media reports unless Maduro was talking about some social media chat.
Guyana is still mourning the loss of the five men who were aboard the chopper. That incident brought tears to many eyes. Of course, there was the comment that had Venezuela not ramped up its rhetoric there would not have been the need for such a flight and in bad weather. At the same time there were moves on the diplomatic front. Most of the countries in South America and the region had begun to support Guyana. It came as no surprise that they approached Maduro to tone down his rhetoric.
Soon, they initiated a meeting between President Ali and President Maduro. The man in St Vincent, who was in the corner of the PPP during the 2020 elections, was the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves. He was also crucial to this meeting and for his efforts Maduro has written off his debt under the Petro Caribe deal.
So the meeting is on. People are afraid that wily Maduro could get Irfaan to do something that could jeopardise the ruling by the World Court. Like a young man paying court to a damsel sweet words would flow. There could be a slip that may seem inconsequential at the time. However, Irfaan is no damsel and in his own words, he would not fall for sweet talk. He insists that he would not be discussing the territorial issue with Maduro during the meeting.
And in the face of repeated calls for him to forego the meeting, he said that it would be disrespectful to his regional colleagues who support him. They want him to sit across the table to face Maduro and to talk to him. As President Ali put it, there are many other things to talk about outside of the border controversy that is before the courts and on which a ruling is due at any time.
But would Maduro be so inclined? He wants to talk about Essequibo. He has Venezuelans to appease ahead of elections in his country. The good thing is that he has listened to the leaders and organisations in South America. To his credit, before he agreed to the meeting, President Ali consulted with many groups including the Opposition. And as a result of his agreement Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton became the target for criticisms because he agreed that Ali should go to the meeting. He had not said much about the criticisms except to say that he consulted with people within his party.
From my perspective, and in spite of my view of Maduro, I think President Ali should go to the meeting. The worst that could happen is that the meeting would collapse if Maduro does not succeed in getting Ali to talk about the border controversy. The best thing that could happen is that a line of communication would be open between the two leaders at a time when they hold divergent views on the border issue.
In all this Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is silent. At least he is not being quoted in the news as offering any comment. It is so nice when he is silent. He needs to arrange a similar face to face meeting with the ExxonMobil top brass over some of the worrying issues. As it stands, ExxonMobil is enjoying Guyana’s wealth to the exclusion of the people. Jagdeo has been siding with Exxon to the point of even challenging a court ruling against the oil company in favour of Guyana.