Govt. wants unity on Venezuela controversy but shuts out Opposition from nationwide activities – Norton

Nov 25, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton on Friday said that the political group is not being adequately involved in the national activities against the heightened claims by Venezuela on Guyana’s sovereign territory.

During a joint press conference with the Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, Norton explained that the Opposition had shared its concerns and recommendations on the controversy and was involved in the Court case involving Venezuela before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), however, he believes outside of that there is no involvement of the Opposition.

He said, “As an opposition, we said to government, we want to be united on this issue. We want Venezuela to see us united.” Nonetheless, Norton explained that only on Thursday, he observed there was a visit to the border by President Irfaan Ali however the Opposition was not involved.

“If you wanted to show a united front, you should have asked the opposition to send a representative or two so when you talk to people in Region One, it is obvious to people, it is not just the government speaking, it is the government and opposition,” the Leader of the Opposition reasoned.

He also shared the view that while the government is formulating a public education programme, the Opposition is not involved in that process either. Norton pointed out that the Opposition not only has skilled professionals in this area but also has access to such individuals outside of the political group. In this regard, he explained, “So we would have thought there would have been the involvement at that level so that when we formulate the policies and the programmes, they would have been policies and programmes agreed to by the government and opposition and again that will be a manifestation of unity on the ground.”

On the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition said a rally is expected to take place in Anna Regina, Region Two with the Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo however again the Opposition was not invited. Norton said he was told that the VP was “invited” to the event and was not the organizer.

In the meantime, Norton said, “we are now left to organize in our strong holds to ensure that our strongholds are educated and then I saw an advertisement for Linden in which Minister Edghill was going to be the person, apart from the fact of me not knowing of his foreign policy and skills and competence of the Guyana Venezuela territorial controversy, again I would have thought the government would have want to go out there particularly in one of our strongholds with a united front. Clearly they seem not to want to do that and that is what I mean.”

Presently, Norton said the Opposition is involved in the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, while there have been meetings with the President as well. Beyond that, Norton said he is unaware of any further engagements “much less one that can promote national unity”.

Member of Parliament (MP) Amanza-Walton Desir informed that the Foreign Relations Sectoral Committee has met twice however; the Opposition is not satisfied with the level of cooperation. She explained, “We would have proffered ideas as to what the education programme can look like, we would have also asked to receive some of the promotional material so that we…can play a meaningful role in distributing and promoting this educational material. We have not received those to date.”

She said she is still hopeful that the flyers, videos and other educational material will be sent to the Opposition so it can also play its part in enlightening the nation. Walton-Desir was keen to point out that the political group has no interest in “unity for optics alone” and expects the government to beef up its attempts to involve the Opposition.

Meanwhile, Ramjattan expressed frustration that MP Tabitha Sarabo-Halley was expected to speak at a school on the invitation of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the Head Teacher on the border controversy but was prevented.

Similarly, Former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), retired Rear Admiral, Gary Best said he too was uninvited to panel discussion on the border controversy which was scheduled for yesterday.

December 3 Referendum

The Opposition and government had taken a united position on the spurious claims by Venezuela on Guyana’s Essequibo Region.

That country plans to hold a referendum on December 3, 2023 which among other things, asks Venezuelans to vote on whether support the Geneva Agreement as the only means to settle the controversy.

The Geneva Agreement was reached in 1966 after Venezuela claimed that the arbitral award was null and void. This was after it participated in the exercise to mark the boundaries (a proceed that ended in 1905 and was ratified in its Parliament.) The agreement, while allowing for dialogue and a diplomatic solution, also allowed for the Secretary-General to seek a final end to the controversy if dialogue failed. Dialogue was carried out over many decades and failed to achieve a solution.

They are being asked if they agree with Venezuela for not recognizing the jurisdiction or the legal right of the Court.

They are being asked to oppose Guyana’s use of its maritime space. Guyana is not asking for provisional measures on this question because the Court has ruled that it cannot entertain matters outside of the Geneva Agreement.

Venezuelans are being asked to agree with the creation of a “Guayana Esequiba”, essentially the territory of Guyana it claims, and grant Venezuelan citizenship and ID cards and then incorporate the territory on the map of Venezuela.

Guyana has rejected the planned referendum and has sought the protection of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Venezuela’s expansionist claims. Additionally, the Government of Guyana announced that it will carry out a series of activities to counter the referendum.

Moreover, government recently made it clear that any aggressive actions by the country will not go unpunished.

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• controversy, opposition, shut out, Unity, Venezuela

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