Do you believe that the government’s response to the Venezuelan attack was strong enough? We asked the man and woman in the street this question and here are the responses:
Burt Newton, pensioner
`No I don’t believe that the Government’s response was strong enough. I think the president should have travelled to Venezuela to have this issue resolved. Guyana is weak and this is the second such incident that has taken place. First we had the fight with Suriname and now it is with Venezuela. We are being targeted because we are potentially rich. That is why they want that area. I think that we should have been prepared for this attack. What tends to happen in Guyana is that a big deal is made out of something and then it goes back into a slumber. We should take this Venezuelan attack issue to the international bodies because up to now we don’t even have a report on the killing of the Guyanese miner by Venezuelans. Guyana should have soldiers in the area where the attack occurred but I don’t think that our forces are strong enough. However at the same time we should at least try to protect our borders’.
Desriee Robin, caterer
`It is not fair what happened to us and I can’t seem to understand why the attack happened in the first place. I am beginning to wonder if it has to do with the Suriname border dispute and if due to this Venezuela is trying to show us what they can do and how they can get away with it. I don’t think that our government’s response to this attack was good enough. I believe that this matter should be taken to the international bodies because we obviously cannot cope with a war with the Venezuelans. This issue with Venezuela died down and all of a sudden it started up back again. I believe that it has to do with our mineral riches in that area. In Guyana we tend to take things lightly until it blows up in our faces. I think that we need to step up security at all our borders to protect not only the country but our people’.
W Mc Bean, chauffeur
`What Venezuela did to Guyana was not fair because blowing up our dredges have put people out of employment. I don’t think that the government did all it could have done following this attack. I think that the Minister of Foreign Affairs should have travelled to Venezuela to have this issue sorted out. Venezuela is only interested in the minerals. We should have been prepared for an incident like this because they have been after us for too long’.
Kurt Thomas, secondary school student
`What happened is a very serious issue because it happened in our country. I believe that we should have been prepared especially if they had been behind us for so long. In light of this incident security should be placed along the borders. I don’t think that we can deal with this issue on our own. We should seek the assistance of international bodies to have the issue resolved. I am concerned that there have not been many reports on the incident. I think that the Venezuelans are after our minerals’.
Tony Bradford, sales clerk
`Something like this happened in 1967 and we stood up under the mighty governance of Burnham. On that occasion the issue was resolved though we did not have the security forces to support this… In those times we had the People’s Militia, the National Service, the police force and the army, so we were capable of handling these types of situations. Our downfall this time is that we don’t have the security forces like we had back in the days. (Venezuela President Hugo) Chavez can just walk through our borders because there is little or no security there. I think that they want the minerals and the wealth that we have. They know that we are called the City of Eldorado. We are too soft spoken. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs is not speaking enough and I believe that this matter should be taken to the international bodies. We are trying to calm things down so that we can get oil from them’.
Shantel Paul, private sector employee
`I feel violated because they were trespassing on our land. This incident should not be swept under the carpet. It should be taken to the international bodies immediately before it blows out of proportion. The next time you might hear that they are in our forests. Why weren’t our forces there to counter this attack? I am disappointed because not much has been in the news about the attack and all citizens should be aware of what is happening in the country. We can’t tolerate such bully like behaviour from Venezuela. I doubt that the government is doing all that they could do’.
Eva Persaud, teacher
`It was not fair. I don’t think that the government is doing all it could. We should have been prepared for this attack and we should have had security forces out there on the borders. However we need more facilities and manpower. When I first heard about the attack on the news I didn’t pay much attention to it because I was doing something. I started thinking about it later and I wanted to know why the government took so long to act. I believe that we should take this matter to the international bodies’.
Dollette Goring, senior clerk
`I don’t believe that the government has done all that they can do because they have just called the embassy and things like that. I think Guyana should approach the international bodies for help in getting a resolution once and for all’.
Lotitia Herod, student
`I don’t feel good about what Venezuela did to Guyana because it was disrespectful. I don’t think that our government is doing all that it can to deal with this situation. We should go to the international organizations to have this matter resolved. They just want our rich lands’.
Michelle Atkinson, nurse
`I think that what Venezuela did was disrespectful to the government and people of Guyana. I don’t think that this will end here and Venezuela will continue to run us down. They want our land because of its riches. Venezuela has done this because they know that our government will tolerate nonsense and would not act up. We need to take this issue to the international level.’