The peaceful living of Guyana’s Indigenous people- particularly those who reside in border communities- has been threatened by Venezuela, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai told an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly on Monday.
Sukhai told fellow lawmakers that the movement of the Venezuela military and possibly, arsenal near the border shared with Guyana is a cause for concern. And she said Guyana’s government has already flagged this.
But as Guyana awaits a final, binding judgement on the border controversy from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Minister Sukhai said the Indigenous people are living under intimidation.
“Venezuela has now gone beyond provocation.
“In the northwestern corner of Guyana, mainly Amerindians live there. They live under intimidation and heightened tension… (and) they will be impacted the most,” Sukhai said.
She added, “This will continue if Venezuela is allowed to continue to fuel this controversy.
“In reality, it is a big concern for peace and stability in the border communities.”
Sukhai, like all of her colleagues who spoke at the extraordinary Parliamentary sitting, rejected Venezuela’s actions and denounced a planned referendum which some fear may be used as the basis for a Venezuelan plan to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region.
And she called on all lawmakers to unite against Venezuela aggressions, and urged the international community to continue supporting Guyana’s bid to get a final, binding judgement in keeping with international law.
The extraordinary sitting was organised as a means for the lawmakers to denounce Venezuela’s December 3, 2023 referendum. Guyana has since approached the ICJ, seeking an injunction to prevent Venezuela from taking action through its provocative referendum over Guyana’s territory – Essequibo.
The borders of Guyana and Venezuela were determined by an arbitral tribunal on October 3, 1899, and Venezuela inherited 13,000 square kilometres of Guyana’s territory (then under British rule).
The amassing of Venezuelan military near to the 1899 mutually agreed bilateral boundary that unnecessarily endangers the lives and livelihoods of the indigenous Amerindian communities , the announcement of the holding a Consultative Referendum to buttress and illegally provide legal traction for the proposed military invasion and annexation of the Guyanese territory of the Essequibo Region, the open defiance and rejection of the adjudicatory process of the World Court, the shameless distortion of the provisions of the 1966 Agreement and the undiplomatic affront to the Office of the UN Secretary General whose Office referred the bilateral border dispute to the ICJ are not just “noises” (Mottley”) but matters of serious security concerns in the Region being spawned and perpetrated exclusively by the state of Venezuela.
Guyana has to defend itself on several fronts in the face of this totally illegal expansionist driven onslaught threatening and potentially disrupting the rapid industrialisation of Guyana merely to satisfy and appease the Russian loss of petro- power bargaining with the EU.
But PM Mottley of Barbados is now in blinkers blaming Georgetown for being an equally wrong imaginary accessory to the endangerment of the Zone of Peace concept when it is exclusively Venezuela.
Mottley also tried to down play the statement issued by the Caricom Secretariat condemning Venezuela’s invasion designs and intentions by suggesting that that Statement urgently issued befitting the level of threat to Guyana does not represent the views of the Caricom heads and it is to looked at from this restricted perspective.
Guyana has to review its current level close functional co-operation relations with Barbados since in its hour of deepest need of diplomatic support and Caricom solidarity to resist this aggressive sabre-rattling stance of Venezuela it cannot rely on the support of the Bajans who seem have their own pro–Venezuela agenda that takes precedence over the nascent and expanding Barbados-Guyana rapprochement.
Mottley seems to be punching way above her weight class coming from 166 square miles of territory with more bark than bite and playing with fire that can back- fire.
She has downgraded Barbados to become a satellite state of Caracas in exchange for promised rewards and bid good bye to functional co-operation and the harmonisation
and co-ordination of foreign policies of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
Just the act of amassing its troops on the borders ostensibly to monitor illegal mining is also an affront to and disrespect for the ICJ’s judicial process now engaged in the Hague but also designed to intimidate the hinterland communities that live in peace and harmony and enlist them forcibly to promote and support Venezuela’s imperialist incursions whenever it does happen.
Guyana must respond to this threat by accelerating settlements in the areas concerned that are most susceptible and vulnerable to Venezuela invasion and expansionist annexation of the Essequibo heartland and its proverbial pot of gold in El Dorado.