GUYANA/VENEZUELA RELATIONS… WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Apr 04, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Addressing recent developments in neighbouring Venezuela, the President of Guyana at the commissioning of a new hangar to house military aircraft owned and operated by the Guyana Defence Force had this to say…

“Guyana believes in diplomacy and in dialogue but not dialogue under duress.”

The President went on: “Our neighbours (meaning Venezuela l) would have chosen on more than one occasion to violate the ICJ (International Court of Justice) orders and Argyle Declaration.”

He said that: “The very fact that they would see to hold an election in a territory that does not belong to them tells you that they are not serious about the dialogue.”

“The Guyanese President continued: “They are not serious about the Argyle Declaration and we will not be drawn into any discourse under duress. We are all for dialogue, but dialogue with respect, dialogue with dignity, dialogue with a sense of purpose and dialogue that we can trust,”

So, we come now to the question of trust…

We know people who have suffered by trusting too much, as a result, they have been burnt by misplaced trust. This applies to inter-state relations as well.

In formulating Guyana’s attitude towards Venezuela’s belligerent stand towards Guyana, President Ali being the astute politician he is, obviously has no interest in being duped by Maduro.

We know about the Oscar Brown jnr. story about a woman who finds a snake, shivering and hungry on a path. The snake begs her for help, pleading ‘Take me in, oh tender woman,’ until she relents – at which point the snake promptly gives her a fatal bite. As she protests her unfair fate, the snake snarls: ‘You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.’

This is probably the reference to trust that President Ali had in mind when he referred to dialogue and trust insofar as Maduro is concerned especially since Maduro’s betrayal of the Argyle Declaration.

Under such conditions it is important for Guyana to guard against any attempt by the Maduro regime to exploit in any shape or form, any engagement between the two countries.

Guyana must strive more vigilantly to ensure that no real or perceived harm is done to the process currently before the International Court of Justice especially by those with the interest to do real harm.

Hypothetically, the annexation of the Essequibo by Venezuela would reshape the political map of Latin America. More significantly, our country known as Guyana, with an established geographic profile for decades would be gone from the map of the world.

The matter is as serious as that.

If realized, the quest by Venezuela, to seize and occupy a huge chunk of Guyana’s national territory, would be tantamount, in the classical sense, to conquering Guyana not just the Essequibo.

Added to that, is the bigger question; would Maduro find any hemispheric or global power or powers who would be either neutral or prepared to be part of a ‘coalition of the willing’ to support, by omission or commission, Maduro’s push further East.

Secondly, a much broader question is; has the collective strength of Guyanese nationalism or better yet, patriotism, reached a sufficient level, enough to act as a powerful and material force to push back against Venezuela’s expansionist designs?

Hopefully, based on our common home and citizenship, as reflected in; ‘One Guyana’ or as in ‘One Nation, One People, One Destiny,’ as well as our democratic understanding of politics, will these motivational outlooks act as effective rallying points to confront an intervention in any shape or fashion.

My point is, we Guyanese do not need a war to justify our being a nation-state as was the case for the dynasties of ancient China, the empires of Mesopotamia and, centuries later, the kingdoms of Europe, for them, waging war was one of their reasons for being.

Prussia clashed with regional rivals during the 17th and 18th centuries to make the nation we know today as Germany. Across the Atlantic, in the mid-18th century, the ‘Seven Years’ War helped to galvanise American colonists against the British, setting them on the path to form a nation of their own.

We Guyanese have a nation we call our own. It is reflected in our National Anthem, the National Pledge, in our patriotic songs and folklore music

We are committed to nation building as we have been doing since 1966. We do not engage in acts of hostilities against any of our neighbours, save and except Venezuela, where the facts clearly indicate that it is the other way around

If there is one important lesson we should learn from history, it is that we do not want in the aftermath of a war to be in a situation where defeat could be even more unifying than victory over the aggressor.

Nation-building is not a one-off event, it can be a long-drawn-out process; worse yet, if interrupted by war or by invasion by a hostile neighboring state, as is the case with Venezuela, it can be catastrophic if Guyana and its populace are not prepared.

Recall in 1980, when Iraq under Saddam Hussein attacked Iran following the Iranian Revolution. Iran was woefully unprepared. But the Iranian Revolutionary Guard drew on religious commitments to help galvanise legions of fighters. Iranian men young and old flung themselves against Iraqi tank attacks, again and again, until Iraq’s advance ground to a halt.

In our case, it would be good if such acts of bravery, courage and sacrifice is manifested by those who will be called up to beat back the forces who would dare violate our territorial integrity.

Armed conflict, whatever its origins and outcome, would be an unwelcome interruption to the rapid progress our country is making currently under the Irfaan Ali administration. It would result in a big setback for development here.

Admittedly, there is no question that the current threat from Venezuela is existential and hangs line a dark cloud over the welcoming, if not the bright prospects for Guyana. But strong leadership first and foremost, buttressed by a united and fully prepared populace in support of an active and vibrant foreign policy with its main focus on the controversy can be the key to success

The prospect of Venezuela waging a war of conquest on Guyana and subsuming and incorporating a huge chunk of Guyana’s national territory into Venezuela’s violates norms of international politics established since in the late 20th century.

Venezuela must be pressured by Russia, China and other BRICS nations to desist from harbouring territorial ambitions on Guyana and to remain within in its long-established borders.

The question that must be asked is can a Head of State who claims to be ‘anti-imperialist’ be, at the same time, someone bent on annexing, by force of arms and, occupying his neighboring country’s territory? Is annexation and the illegal occupation of other people’s territory compatible with anti-imperialism?

Guyanese need to be ideologically prepared. And it cannot be only anti-Venezuelan sentiments that should be the mobilizing factor.

Note how Maduro and his military satraps are using, from an ideological perspective, anti-imperialist and revolutionary narratives to keep their supporters mobilized.

Maduro has framed Guyana, EXXON MOBIL and America in an ideological context, so has the US, Russia and China in terms of their sanctions and tariff wars against each other. There are lessons are to be learnt here.

Belief in our country’s future along with deep and clear ideological convictions mean a lot in global politics today as we strive to guard and protect what is dearest to us in all the world

Guyanese should take note of the Poet Maya Angelou’s quote that while “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

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