By GHK Lall- Former President, Excellency Donald Ramotar has taken the interest to make known his position again. Let this region called the Caribbean continue to be a “Zone of Peace.” I couldn’t agree more. For if it is not, then of what nature would this Caribbean Basin be? For those already celebrating force and military action in Venezuela, I wonder if they have the faintest clue about the damage that military action can wreak in this neighborhood. Though, there is much to be said about being on the right side of a juggernaut America, like Excellency Ramotar, I urge thinking and rethinking of standing on the side of war, given all of its implications for the region, none more than Guyana.
Let this be said: Venezuela is not Grenada. Venezuela has powerful allies, and they are rearing to have a go, even if in a proxy position. It would be well for all to recall how easily Ronald Reagan’s strike force went to Grenada to rescue Americans who didn’t know that they were in need of rescuing. I remind one and all that Venezuela is no pushover. Not with that military, admittedly pale in comparison; and with its reserves of assets that make this area a quagmire from which it is hard to extract. And what could also change into a nightmare of unimagined proportions for Guyanese. As an American, I am all for American ascendancy; but there must be a preponderance of right to justify what may be in mind in Washington relative to the Venezuelan challenge.
There are the pluses, those attractions that can neither be minimized nor pretended not to exist. For there is that bottomless bucket of oil in Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo and other areas in the oil rich Orinoco, which generate their own irresistible impulses, and generate their own political visions. So, the planes and boats and matériel of war are all being assembled, with only voices like former president Donald Ramotar, and the incumbent Pres. Ali, raising hand, and saying: let us all slowdown, let us all rethink, let us all stop that kind of talk, stop beating that kind of drum.
The trouble for Guyana is that it is so captive to America that it can only speak halfheartedly, and not as strongly as it should. Nevertheless, any voice is better than none, but it must be one that speaks with unlimited zeal for the right course of action. Further, it is gratifying that other leaders from other countries in the region have come out in public to say: hold horses, let’s change the direction of the conversation. Let there be working through the tangle of interests, so that this region is kept as what it has always been – an iridescent lake of green and peace. No red blood dripping into our waters and staining them irreversibly.
I am for that and, as much as I have my concerns about Senor Nicolas Maduro, and would be glad to see his back fading into the distance, I don’t foresee that happening without some spillage. Spillage is not good for Guyana, so Guyanese should get that straight from now. The American in me respects assertive action, particularly against a hostile neighbor; the Guyanese in me asks at what cost to Guyana? It was the Commanding General of the Confederate States of America, the mystical Robert E. Lee, who said that “it is good that war is so horrible, or else we would grow to like it.”
Guyanese don’t know much of anything about war, other than their own unending internal ones that rip apart. Should there be war in this region, the fallout or repercussions across Guyana are sure to be severe and felt for a long time. Others can call for war, under whatever name they see fit to use, but they do so safe in their distance and also free of controversy relative to their territory and sovereignty.
Thus, I am with Excellencies Ramotar and Ali (and the others outside of Guyana): keep this space calm. Keep it free of all those armaments of war, keep the waters free of the blood of the future fallen, and the lands free of the ghosts that roam and mourn their passing in youth ended too early. Should there be war, who will stay out of it? Should there be war, what kind of zone of peace will this be? Think clearly is my counsel to all in the midst, whatever their objectives.
