Guyana remains diplomatically mute on Venezuela’s territorial claims

Feb 28, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
In the heady days to Independence and after, the leaders had entered into a fierce and bitter battle to divide the people to the point of unrest in their quest to grab power.
In the same vein they seemed inept and deficient, when it came to protecting the borders on the birth of the new, fledgling nation.
Their blind preoccupation with defending the vagaries of ideologies had meant that there was little room for anything else. Border responsibilities went into decline if not non-existent.
The result is that after Independence the territory of Guyana was reduced from some 89,000 square miles to 83,000 square miles within a short space of time.
It is now at further risk of declining even more, to some 40,000 square miles, if Chavez is allowed to have it all his own way. The Venezuelan President seems most capable of making big noises, and at places where it counts.
At the same time Guyana seems to have failed miserably to get its border issue put on the agenda, and for action to be taken by the Latin American and Caribbean conference at Cancun, Mexico, recently.
The Conference however, seems far more eager to back Argentina in their territorial claims over the Falklands. Argentina was unable to achieve their aims by armed invasion. Chavez appeared to have injected much impetus into the Conference and to assume a more aggressive role on territorial claims. He may easily be dismissed as comical, but Chavez is proving to be far more astute and aggressive.
His aim is to take over much of Guyana, while everyone else is happily resting on their laurels and treating him like a funny man.
Guyana has served as the Chairman to the body in 2008 and has remained diplomatically mute on the issue of Venezuela’s territorial claims. Except for the glowing photo-shoot, Guyana seems to have achieved little else at these conferences. The discernible laxness would not escape the crafty eyes of Chavez. He must be rubbing his hands with glee in anticipation. To him this is a welcoming nod in his direction in furthering his territorial claims over Guyana, as the weak, subservient leaders of Guyana appear to be in a state of comatose.
The vociferously Chavez has riled up loudly against Britain and to let the world know that Britain must hand over her territories in the Falklands to Argentina.
It seems that it will only be a matter of time before Chavez will turn his attention to Guyana and to slowly tighten the screw. Hitler was once regarded as an under-achiever and with a sanity bordering on madness. Those who have sat on their laurels for so long have found out to their detriment that it was a big and costly mistake that was to trigger the onset of World War II.
Guyana has paid a heavy price with its preoccupation with ideologies as opposed to putting the people first.
They seem content with receiving aid and to rely on subsidies from abroad, including Venezuelan oil.
Developing strong relationship with the countries that really matter does not appear to be the vital criterion in their armory as far as the future of the nation is concerned, or featured as any cohesive motive to secure the country’s integrity.
On the contrary, the President’s nonchalance is even more evident by the vast amount of taxpayers’ money spent travelling and which has brought little or no real tangible benefits to the country. Guyana natural resources are a magnet to other countries to exploit at the cost of the indigenous population.
This time it seems that the President is eager to invite the Iranians to join the bandwagon of foreign interests in their quest to exploit the country’s finite resources.
The Iranians are desperate for uranium to fuel their nuclear ambition and the prospects of finding uranium would not escape them under the pretext of their mineral mapping in Guyana.
Iran is a close ally and a backer of Chavez. They would not jeopardize their close ties and their joint interests for the sake of Guyana.
Guyana could find itself hanging on a limb, with little to gain and perhaps far more to lose, if it is hoping to achieve a trade-off on the border issue, if and when the Iranians happen to step into the country.
Mac Mahase

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Guyana remains diplomatically mute on Venezuela’s territorial claims

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