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Venezuela’s Chavez not objecting to forest for cash offer – Morandy
Venezuela says that it will not object to Guyana’s bid to preserve its rainforest in exchange for cash incentives, although there have been some rumblings from certain people in that country.
In an interview on Thursday, Venezuela’s Ambassador to Guyana, Dario Morandy, describing the proposal as interesting, assured that his country is willing to lend support to the initiative which was announced by Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, late last year.
Also echoing the Ambassador’s sentiments was Jinnah Rahman, Coordinating Secretary of the Guyana-Venezuela Friendship Society, who stressed that from all indications, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is not interested in perpetuating any claims on Guyana’s territory.
The Ambassador was responding to a question over the recent statement of Sadio Garavini, a former Venezuela Ambassador to Guyana, who recently called on the Chavez-led administration to declare its stance on the forest proposal.
Garavini said that the announcement made by the Guyana Government would have provoked a forceful answer from past Venezuelan diplomatic authorities.
“Venezuela has to analyze the Guyanese agreement and must take a clear stance in defence of our interests,” he pointed out.
The former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana also said that it was necessary to know the terms of the agreement that the Guyana Government is willing to approve.
“We must know whether Guyana is going to get an important amount of money in exchange for protecting the forest, since there are international funds related to this type of operation, or whether it is an agreement to set up a sustainable and ecological project.”
Garavini said that the unilateral cession of territory by the Government of Guyana is due to Chávez’ s previous statements.
The Venezuelan President said some time ago that he is not concerned by new investments in the Essequibo.
For Garavini, an opportunity has been lost to affect the status quo of Guyana, which is in possession of the territory.
“Once we lose this negotiating tool, Guyana’s authorities will no longer be interested in negotiating.
“On the contrary, President Chávez has said that the territorial claim is a result of the US pressure as part of the Cold War. Therefore, we wonder why should Guyana negotiate after President Chávez has said that?”
Last week, the Venezuelans spoke to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues. An official proposal on the forest offer is to be submitted by Guyana.
A meeting is also scheduled to be held with members of the Treaty of the Amazonian Cooperation of which Guyana is part.
The other members are Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
At this forum, the issue will be discussed and an “opinion” taken, Morandy said.
Referring to statements of Garavini, the Ambassador noted that while the view of that diplomat would be from a business perspective, the reality is that Venezuela views it from a social standpoint.
Last June, Guyana proposed that a British organization use its tropical forest to develop environmental programmes in exchange for financial aid.
According to the proposal, Guyana would assign 21.6 million hectare of its rainforest, of which 15.9 million hectares are claimed by Venezuela.
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