The Foreign Minister's press conference

Editorial
Stabroek News
December 31, 2000


Certainly we weren't expecting to hear about peace on our borders from Foreign Minister Rohee this year, or that relations with our neighbours (to quote him from his 1998 press conference) were "very cordial and very friendly." Nor did we think that he would tell us, as he was reported as doing last year, that "When it comes to our vital national interests, with our limited resources both human and financial, we have managed to scrape through to ensure that our vital national interests have not been in any fundamental way affected so that someone could point with an accusing finger to say here or there, we have suffered."

What do you say after you have sent the CGX rig into an unprotected area, and then have stood helplessly by while it was expelled by Suriname gunboats? What do you say after experiencing the economic loss consequent on that eviction? What do you say after the Suriname navy has harassed your nationals and violated your airspace - and even your landspace with an illegal landing at Scotsburg? What do you say after five rounds of talks with Suriname on the matter of the CGX rig proceeded exactly nowhere? And what do you say when your neighbour to the west has frightened off oil companies which have been granted concessions by you in your offshore area, campaigned at the US State Department to scuttle the Beal spaceport project in the Waini, and announced that concessions for hydrocarbon exploration would be issued in your maritime zone?

As it was, according to our report of December 29, the Minister had plenty to say at his end-of-year press conference. He told reporters that his ministry had pursued its mandate with much success, although this did not mean that there had not been challenges. There was, among other things, the support to the Finance Ministry in pressing for debt relief which achieved success in the case of the governments of the UK, Canada, the USA and Norway. And then there was the provision of volunteers by Japan and Ireland to enhance capacity building, an agreement between the Guyana Police Force and the Federal Police of Brazil, the partial visa abolition agreement with Brazil, the mobilizing of CARICOM support to ensure Suriname did not use force against Guyana again, the passage of a resolution supported by 22 countries on the New Global Human Order, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Ireland, and, yes, Belarus.

And as for the borders per se, the most important news the media heard was that this country had applied to join the Caracas energy accord. It will be recalled that following reported statements by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rangel to the effect that Guyana would be excluded from this arrangement on account of the territorial controversy, Minister Rohee had spoken in not altogether sensitive terms about those CARICOM states which might be tempted to accept Venezuela's offer. And now, after that indiscretion, here we are humbly asking for a piece of our neighbour's energy pie.

And why this volte face, discerning Guyanese will want to know? Well, according to a Frontiers Unit document circulated at the briefing, "the government is convinced that cooperation aimed at building mutual understanding and respect should not be held hostage." Never mind that we are becoming more dependent on a neighbour whose intentions in relation to our terrain are more than suspect. And never mind that the "cooperation" is all one way - Venezuela is giving and we are getting. Is the Ministry really convinced that this will engender such "mutual respect" that our neighbour will forget about her claim? The Frontiers Unit document had other things to communicate. "I think," it said - although it was not at all clear who the 'I' was, since it carried no signature - "that the fact that Guyana was able to manage its relations with Suriname and Venezuela is credit to the activism of our diplomacy." Exactly how relations were managed other than by ensuring they were "civil" was not explicated. What is known is that Suriname has still not agreed to come to the negotiating table over the rig issue, and Venezuela has not withdrawn her objections to our oil concessions, or indicated a preparedness to retreat on the matter of granting exploratory concessions in our territorial waters.

Of course, as the document said, the Government sought Commonwealth assistance - that at least no one will have any quarrel with - and we established a frontiers unit. It might be noted, however, that the Minister several years ago had hastily abolished the one already in existence when he entered office. And we now have Presidential Advisory Committees (no Parliamentary Border Committee which would encompass the opposition in a formal sense), but still no frontiers policy that anyone can discern and from which strategies could be developed. However, from the Frontiers Unit paper it appears that boundary documentation is back in fashion again after it had been considered a superfluity for so long, although there was no indication of any intention to beef up our diplomatic capacity both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Perhaps the Minister should have stuck to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Belarus


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