We can work together on building a better Guyana

Aug 22, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

President David Granger was effusive in praise of the GDF, GPF and People’s Militia joint exercise ‘Operation Greenheart’ noting that the Force is in an even better position to protect Guyana’s territorial integrity. This is ironic in that the greatest threat to Guyana’s territorial integrity is the result of Granger’s decision to allow the establishment of a Homestead for Venezuelan refugees in the Essequibo region.
David Granger, the Presidential candidate, was presented as a ‘law and order and security’ expert, having attained the rank of Brigadier in the GDF; he was expected to be an expert on all things concerning border security and territorial integrity. It was, therefore, a shock in July 2018, when there was an announcement by Minister Felix that an area would be established to allow the Venezuelans to be self-reliant. “It is intended that we [will] develop something like a homestead where families are accumulated and eventually we can move them into cash crop farming…” he was quoted as saying by government’s Department of Public Information.
I wrote in August 2018 that “The biggest surprise of this ‘Homestead Initiative’ is the naivety of a government led by a former Brigadier of the Guyana Defence Force to think that a Venezuelan Homestead in Essequibo (territory claimed by Venezuela) does not pose a grave threat to our territorial integrity” (another newspaper published on 28.08.2018).
Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo also said, “They should be repatriated to Venezuela given the nature of the threat on the border and what a settlement on our side of the border with permanent residents from Venezuela, a settlement of that nature can pose a threat to our territorial integrity.” (an online news outfit published on 24.08.2018)
In December 2018, the Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, Mr. Gavin Williamson, suggested that the UK could become a “true global player” after Brexit by opening new military bases in the Caribbean and the Far East while Mr. Williamson did not name locations, Guyana was mentioned in his Sunday Telegraph interview as a possible location. The Granger administration did not see fit to refute this assertion nor demand the UK clarify the issue.
Fast forward to August 2019 and Guyana is now subject to a claim from the Russian Foreign Ministry that Britain was “completing the construction of a military base on one of the islands at the mouth of the Essekibo (sic) River under a plausible pretext – supposedly to stop the smuggling of weapons and drugs.” “There have already arrived several dozen so-called ‘refugees’ from Venezuela to undergo training as part of reconnaissance and sabotage groups and then to be dispatched to Venezuelan territory in order to destabilise the situation and carry out appropriate actions – from extremist to terrorist.” Defence of our territorial integrity does not consist of deluding ourselves with games of ‘toy soldier’; it begins with vigilant monitoring all that is said that involves our nation globally and the capability to ensure we make timely responses to any assertion that threatens our stability or image.
On matters of national security and image, the two main political parties, The People’s Progressive Party and the People’s National Congress, have always stood shoulder to shoulder. The Granger administration should move quickly to accept and implement advice on the matter of the Venezuelan Homestead offered by PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo who said, “I hope that it is just a place that people can receive the generosity of Guyana and be treated in a dignified manner to be repatriated at some point in time”. Jagdeo also wrote to Granger advising him of three types of people coming into Guyana from Venezuela, and each must be dealt with differently: returning Guyanese, Amerindians who have been crossing the borders and Venezuelans. We can work together on building a better Guyana.

Respectfully
Robin Singh

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