The PNCR is glad that Venezuela has expressed regrets at the incursion into Guyana’s territory but feels there should be a commitment that such incidents would not occur again.
In response to a question on Venezuela’s response to Guyana on the incursion which took place on November 15, 2007 in the Cuyuni River, PNCR Central Executive Committee member Aubrey Norton said at the party’s weekly press conference yesterday that Venezuela’s response “is a vindication of our position.”
During the incursion two mining dredges were bombed and Venezuelan civilian aircraft flew over the bombed out dredges.
Norton said when the incident occurred the PNCR’s position was that the government could not merely depend and wait on a response and Guyana had to be proactive.
This, he said, was done at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda. However, if Venezuela was not going to act, he said the party had recommended that the government ask the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN) to make an assessment and determination.
“I believe all of those (things) compelled Venezuela to look at the issue and respond in the way they did. As a party we are glad that the issue is cleared,” he said.
Norton added that, “We believe there should be commitment from Venezuela that such incidents would not occur again and that the government in the future would not come with the old approach for every issue.”
The PNCR executive felt that at the time the incident occurred Venezuela believed that they would have gotten away with the issue as they did with the murder of Guyanese miner, Parsram Persaud by the Venezuelan military more than a year ago. The Venezuelan Ministry of External Affairs had promised a report on the issue earlier this year but none has been received by Guyana.
Norton felt that as the pressure built up it was evident that Venezuela would have had to deal with the issue at the diplomatic level and that created the conditions for the manner in which it was dealt with.
The PNCR, he said, hopes that the Jagdeo-led government would learn and seek to have a more broad-based approach to Guyana’s foreign policy and involve the major stakeholders and the political opposition so that issues can be dealt with at the national level instead of a partisan way.
He contended that when the PNCR was in office, the party always said that the Guyana/Venezuela territorial controversy was a national issue which must be dealt with as such. “The same is true for Suriname,” he said.
Asked how the issue of compensation should be dealt with, he said that it required diplomatic tact which would minimise tension and ensure cordiality and peace but at the same time it was incumbent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pursue actions to ensure that those who suffered are dealt with appropriately.
As to whether Guyana should ensure that the matter was noted at the OAS and UN, Norton said that based on press reports that Venezuela did not insist that the incidents occurred in Venezuelan territory as in the initial response, “That being the case it would nullify what we were suggesting.”
