Barbabdos Opposition slams Mottley’s ‘weak’ support for Guyana

Nov 23, 2023 News

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…tells CARICOM countries to resist attempts by Venezuela to use oil pact as leverage for support

Kaieteur News – The Opposition – Democratic Labour Party (DLP) of Barbados said it is greatly concerned that the leadership of Barbados is failing to support Guyana against Venezuela’s move to annex the Essequibo region of Guyana.

This position, the DLP said follows a previous statement by its leader Dr. Ronnie Yearwood which condemned Venezuela’s referendum to incorporate Essequibo as part of the territory of Venezuela. Dr. Yearwood also criticised Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s failure to unequivocally condemn Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo as wrong, the statement read.

Earlier this month Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton had also strongly criticised a “Caribbean politician” who recently called for Guyana and Venezuela to maintain the region as a zone of peace following the tensions between the two over a referendum on Essequibo that is to be held by Caracas on December 3rd. “I could not believe that. I could not believe that honestly”, he told the National Assembly. Norton did not name the politician but the remarks were made by Mottley.

Norton said that he could not accept that a Caribbean sister nation would cast Guyana in that type of light. “Are we to conclude that Guyana has threatened the territorial integrity and sovereignty of any state in the Caribbean? We never did. Have we issued decrees to take over another state’s maritime space?  We never did. Have we rejected the decisions of any international tribunal? We never did. It was Venezuela that did”, he told the House.

“And therefore to say that Guyana and Venezuela must ensure a zone of peace is classic ‘eyepass’ because we have always maintained that there must be the peaceful resolution of this matter. And it is really disturbing that – I didn’t call name – it is really disturbing that a Caribbean nation can say that and implicate Guyana when Guyana basically lacks the means militarily to even conceptualise that approach much less implement it.”

Speaking at a DLP St. Michael Central branch meeting held on 19 November 2023, Dr. Yearwood stated that “Barbados and CARICOM must stand on the right side of history in supporting Guyana’s territorial sovereignty.” He urged Barbados to follow CARICOM in taking a clear unified position against Venezuela’s claims over a significant portion of Guyana’s territory. Dr. Yearwood noted that Venezuela’s actions not only affect Guyana but also threaten peace and security within the Caribbean region.

Dr. Yearwood condemned the approach of the Barbados Mia Mottley-led administration as hedging its bets and playing both sides, especially given the recent meetings and upcoming agreements the BLP administration has been seeking to conclude with Guyana and Venezuela.

According to the press release, Dr. Yearwood is mindful of the strength of the diplomatic relationship between Guyana and Barbados. He cited the cooperation between Democratic Labour Party founder and Prime Minister of Barbados Errol Barrow and President of Guyana Forbes Burnham in negotiating the agreement establishing CARICOM. This agreement has set the tone in large measure for the friendly relations that Guyana and Barbados have enjoyed, and the outstanding working relationship with mutual benefits to both sides. Dr. Yearwood further recalled that many Barbadians have settled in Guyana. He urged CARICOM countries that are signatories to the Venezuela-Caribbean Petrocaribe oil procurement agreement to resist attempts to use the agreement as leverage to gain support for Venezuela.

Dr. Yearwood believes that supporting CARICOM states when their sovereignty is undermined is inherent to the foreign policy of CARICOM. On this basis, CARICOM should support Guyana’s defense of its territory in the case currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Additionally, Dr. Yearwood noted that Barbados and CARICOM have always supported the international rule of law and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Therefore, Dr. Yearwood calls for Venezuela to respect the ICJ process and fully comply with interim orders of the ICJ. He also urges Guyana and Venezuela to comply with the final ICJ decision when it is delivered.

Kaieteur News on Monday reported that Mottley and Prime Minister of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves have echoed the support of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for Guyana, even as the country takes steps to have its border controversy with Venezuela addressed at the level of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“CARICOM has issued a very strong statement in support of Guyana. We as individual countries all have echoed those sentiments, the fact that I have said two weeks before at the conference that Venezuela is also a friend, we would like to see the Caribbean remain a zone of peace. In this particular case in our view, Guyana’s position has been strong, it has been unwavering and it is before the International Court of Justice, and we’ll back them 150 percent with that,” Mottley said at a press conference which she shared with Gonsalves at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados on Saturday. Prime Minister Mottley also expressed hope that the rhetoric and the noise between Venezuela and Guyana, do not convert the Caribbean region into anything that is not a zone of peace. She continued, “Venezuela is a friend as well and, therefore, we would like to see the Caribbean remain a zone of peace.” “It matters to us that this Caribbean remains a zone of peace… So we are depending on the two countries to keep the temperatures down even if there is not the settled outcome on the dispute that will be traditionally expected, over Guyana’s 160,000 square kilometer Essequibo County.”

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• Barbados Prime Minister, Dr. Ronnie Yearwood, Mia Mottley, President of the Democratic Labour Party, Venezuela

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