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Norton says no progress on joint PR campaign regarding border controversy
Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton related last Thursday that there has been no progress on the planning and execution of a joint public relations strategy to combat Venezuela’s misinformation on the border controversy.
This comes despite a prior joint statement by the government and opposition that promised a collaborative effort. Over a week, after the high-level meeting Norton stated, “As far as I know, there has been no engagement as it relates to the public education programme. We have called for it. We are prepared to work with the government for it. But as far as I know, we have not yet engaged in it.”
This disclosure underlined a stark contrast between the commitment to unity declared in the statement and the lack of implementation on this strategy. The two sides have, in the past week, spent a great deal of time during press conferences bickering over differences on the treatment of Venezuelan migrants.
Norton said the only recollection relating to the promised Public Relations campaign is that a proposal was made by the Opposition, which was summarily discarded by one Minister. “I understand in one of the meetings, the matter was raised and our side suggested that they do cartoons, etc. And my information is that Kwame McCoy [Minister of Public Information] had said that we didn’t have people with skills to do that, which I found strange,” Norton relayed.
Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton
The Opposition Leader still underscored the need for action: “But we still see the need for a comprehensive public relations programme that is not politicised and involves Guyanese stakeholders.” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo opted not to comment on the lack of progress, during his press conference on Thursday.
The inaction has caused concern among stakeholders, who stress the critical need for Guyana’s government and opposition to take a unified stance on the territorial controversy, beyond statements. The lack of progress on the PR strategy, combined with internal quarrels over the handling of Venezuelan migrants and refugees and mutual accusations of dishonesty, do not bode well for Guyana’s position. Contrastingly, Venezuelan politicians have been presenting a united front on this matter. For instance, the vote by Venezuela’s national assembly to conduct the referendum was unanimous.
With the special sitting of Guyana’s National Assembly held yesterday on the matter, local politicians demonstrated a similar united front. Such solidarity is imperative to counter Venezuela’s PR machinery, which is actively promoting misinformation on the border issue. Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has scheduled November 14 hearings to consider arguments in relation to Guyana’s call for measures to stop the referendum. Guyana asked the court to issue provisional measures in that regard, given that there is a case pending before the Court on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which settled Guyana’s ownership of the Essequibo region over a century ago.
- Aubrey Norton, joint public relations strategy, Leader of the Opposition, misinformation, Venezuela’s
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