The real challenge
In our edition of August 29, we reported Foreign Minister Clement Rohee as challenging anyone to identify any incident with the three neighbouring states which had resulted from ineptitude or unfamiliarity with the issues, and which had not been resolved. "I, as the foreign minister of this country, can say unequivocally that we do have a border policy in place and that is precisely why no major problem, incident, fallout... has emerged," he said. Mr Rohee went on to make reference to Guyana's relations with Venezuela from 1992. He said that there had been several meetings between the presidents of the two countries, as well as between himself and his Venezuelan counterparts. "I think that this is healthy for relations between countries," he continued, "at least we are talking. We have even established a high-level bilateral commission between our two countries..." It was a strange challenge. There have, of course, been incidents, such as the mysterious burning of the Eteringbang flag and the overflight of a Venezuelan aircraft last December, but there have been other more insidious developments as well which the Foreign Minister has appeared to overlook. A few years ago Venezuela suspended the sale of fuel to Guyanese miners in the Cuyuni/Wenamu rivers, although she continued to sell along the far more volatile Colombian border, and to communities on the Brazilian frontier. The move has effectively denuded the Cuyuni of local miners, a situation which has not been reversed. Furthermore, the miners were persistent in their complaints of harrassment by the Venezuelan National Guard on that river, and claimed that to avoid this they sometimes flew the Venezuelan flag on their vessels. It should be said that the Cuyuni is not divided by a median line or a thalweg, with one half of the river belonging to Guyana and the other half to Venezuela; according to the 1899 award the whole of the waterway where it comprises the common border belongs to Guyana. What we have, therefore, is a situation where the Venezuelans in effect have taken control of a river which is part of Guyana's territory and not theirs, and by dint of an economic manoeuvre have also managed to evict most of the Guyanese population on our bank of the river. Can the Minister honestly say that this problem has been resolved? And then there is the Corentyne river with its various issues, including piracy and the cession of criminal jurisdiction on the ferry to Suriname, an act with implications in international law for our rights to the Corentyne river. Can the Minister honestly say that all the problems here have been resolved? And then there is the question of the environmental treaty. Why was former President Janet Jagan advised to sign a Memorandum of Understanding committing this country to negotiate an environmental treaty with Venezuela under the McIntyre process, when that would compromise our sovereignty over Essequibo? The treaty has to all appearances not been negotiated as yet, but can the Minister honestly say that the problem has been resolved? If there was a viable border policy in place, how did we find ourselves in the current situation? The presidential meetings and high level border commission to which Minister Rohee referred in relation to Venezuela may be one element in a diplomatic strategy coming out of a border policy, but they are not a substitute for a border policy itself. Still lacking is a coherent policy which looks at all aspects of what is essentially a complex and multi-dimensional issue. We need long-term strategies for addressing problems of territorial integrity in general and the boundary controversy with Venezuela in particular, to open possibilities for a solution, and concentrate attention on contingency planning. And whatever the Minister may think, contingency planning is necessary at this time. Whatever has happened in the past cannot be undone; in crafting strategies for the future we have to start at the point at which we find ourselves currently, and, most of all, the nation has to speak with one voice. Given President Jagdeo's novel approach to political affairs, now is perhaps the most propitious time for his Foreign Minister to put forward a proposal to the opposition parties in Parliament for a Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. That is Minister Rohee's real challenge.
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