Venezuelan friendship

Sep 01, 2013 Editorial

Yesterday’s visit by President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela is a tangible reminder of the growing friendship between his country and ours. Ever since Venezuela had raised its claims to Essequibo in the UN in 1962, our relationship had been dominated by that controversy. It was part of then John F. Kennedy US administration’s strategy to oust the PPP administration, because of its fears of Guyana becoming an ally of the USSR. But for Venezuelans, it was an emotive issue harking back to their historic collective feeling of colonial abuse.
The Venezuelans invaded and occupied our half of Ankoko Island in 1969 and in the late 1970’s that country’s objections to the World Bank killed the Upper Mazaruni Hydro Project, initiated by the then PNC administration of Forbes Burnham. Purely by coincidence, a sign of the changing times and Venezuela’s diplomatic posture has been its studied silence during the discussions of the IDB’s participation in the Amaila Falls Hydro-Electric Project (AFHEP). The volte face is due entirely to the vision of Maduro’s predecessor President Hugo Chavez, who was determined to improve his country’s relations with its neighbours through acts of friendship.
The lessening of tensions over the Venezuelan border claim (which is being addressed by the UN Secretary General Good Offices Process, presently in the person of Professor Norman Girvan) was noticeable in Venezuela’s acceptance of our application last year for the extension of our continental shelf which, if approved, would allow for our country to extend our search for oil and other resources. The Chavez administration was criticized by some Venezuelan Opposition figures; a reminder that Guyana cannot remain completely sanguine on the matter. Since the claim is incorporated in the Venezuelan Constitution, it remains a mobilization point that can be exploited by ambitious Venezuelan politicians.
Presently, in addition to downplaying the border claim, the most tangible sign of the improved relations is the PetroCaribe Initiative, in which we purchase half our petroleum needs from Venezuela. The terms are most generous: if crude prices are higher than US$100 (which it is presently) we pay 40 per cent of the bill and the other 60 per cent will be paid in 25 years with an annual interest rate of 1%. An additional feature that was negotiated is the shipment of local paddy and rice to Venezuela at very attractive prices, and our government being allowed to pay farmers in Guyana dollars which are applied to the PetroCaribe account.
This feature is of great significance in our efforts to expand our rice production, even as the old European market becomes less attractive from a price standpoint. Because of endemic food shortages in Venezuela and rice being a staple of Venezuelan diet, this market should remain strong in the immediate future. The food shortage is only one of the challenges that President Maduro faces in Venezuela, in the post-Chavez transition. The economy this year is expected not to grow by more than 2% as opposed to the 5% achieved in Chavez’s last year. Quite troubling has been a stubborn rise in inflation, which is now above 20%. Maduro is being blamed for these problems because he has continued with programmes benefiting the poor. For instance, minimum wages were promised to be raised by 40%, which while moderating the effect of inflation on the poor, will also exacerbate the phenomenon. The “Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration” at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, funded in part by the Venezuelan Government to the tune of US$2 million, is an example of the social spending undertaken by the Venezuelan regime at home.
Because of the wafer-thin 1.6% majority through which Maduro assumed the Presidency, the elections are being challenged by the Opposition in the courts. The US has supported the Opposition’s call for a recount and this has continued the strain in US-Venezuelan relations that flared up during the Chavez regime. We hope that President Maduro would be given the space to continue building bridges in the region, in general, and with Guyana in particular.

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Venezuelan friendship

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Venezuelan friendship

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