Opposition stands as one with Govt against Venezuela

Oct 24, 2015 News

In no way will Guyana be divided in the face of threats the country continues to face as Venezuela seeks to deprive it of three quarters of its territory.

From Left: Former President Bharrat Jagdeo and President David Granger

This was reiterated yesterday by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, at Freedom House.
Jagdeo said that he and his party stand firm in support of the government’s position against Venezuela. The former President even congratulated President David Granger on his move to update the nation as he addressed the Parliament on Thursday last.
Jagdeo said that there are two elements of Granger’s speech, the reporting element and the policy element.
“It is good for the country when the President can report on what is taking place in various meetings at the national and internal level especially pertaining to the border,” said Jagdeo.
Moving on to the policy element, Jagdeo said that he has a few concerns. He said that while he wants his concerns to be known he wants to be cautious not to undermine the strong solidarity given at the national level to preserve the territorial integrity of Guyana.
The former President told the media that he has heard strong positions on the border issue which leave him with numerous questions.
President Granger has been pushing a juridical settlement to the border controversy and has indicated that the Government of Guyana is already consulting legal minds on the issue, even as it continues its dialogue with the United Nations.
Jagdeo wants to know if the United Nations team is prepared to go the judicial route.
He questioned whether a move along the judicial path would completely alienate the United Nations and whether a juridical settlement would form part of the menu of settlements that would be offered and supported by the United Nations.
Jagdeo said, “I know that the Venezuelan side has publicly declared that they are not in favour of the juridical process but I am more interested in finding out what the United Nations position is…because if it is not part of the menu available to the Secretary General through the charter and we insist on going this route, does it mean that we will have to do so, independent of any UN involvement or would the UN withdraw from the process…
“Can we go unilaterally or do we have to do so with an agreement with Venezuela?”
Jagdeo said that almost two months after Granger promised to set up the border committee, it is yet to be established.
The Venezuelan Government has been pushing for the UN Good Officer process to be restarted, but Guyana has long indicated that the process has been exhausted.
Asked whether a PPP administration would have dealt with the issue differently, the former President said, “When you are in government, you have to consider everything but what you put forward is important because that is on the table.”
He said in the past there were options that involved a negotiated settlement. “There were options that involved a negotiated settlement which did not see any land concession and the 1899 award would remain intact.
But there was one view that probably on the maritime area, we can give Venezuela a channel out to the sea, so you make a slight concession in the maritime area but make sure that you do not concede any territory that is land based because the maritime boundaries are yet to be determined,” Jagdeo said.
He said that the concession area he was talking about was Orinoco which does not form part of Guyana’s maritime boundary.
President David Granger on Thursday told Parliament that “Venezuela’s fear is that, once a juridical process could prove that its contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 was a nullity was proven to be baseless, its fifty-year strategy of attrition aimed at gaining territory from Guyana stands in jeopardy of the prospect of collapse.”
The President said that Guyana has always addressed the border issue respectfully without confrontation. He said “Venezuela’s claim that Guyana is an aggressor defies logic and plain common sense. Who is the aggressor? Who owns the corvette?”