By Dr. Mellissa Ifill
This article gives an overview of Guyana’s international relations and foreign policy between 1966 and the mid 1980s and argues that although Guyana’s foreign policy shifted to accommodate the adoption of a differing ideology, particularly after 1970, the themes that dominated Guyana’s foreign policy during the period of review remained constant.
Above all, the foreign policy agenda of Guyana after independence was dominated by the need to secure its territorial integrity as it was faced with border challenges from Venezuela and Suriname. In the period under review, the relationship between Guyana and Venezuela fluctuated between ‘cooperation’ and ‘conflict’ and Venezuela sometimes engaged in ‘hostile and testing’ action according to Rashleigh Jackson to advance its claims. Hostile tactics used by Venezuela included economic aggression and sabotage of potential investment opportunities and military invasion and occupation of the Guyana half of Ankoko Island. The most serious incident between Suriname and Guyana occurred in 1969 when the GDF expelled Surinamese armed forces from an area in the New River Triangle area and there were continuous problems over the use of the Corentyne River by Guyanese fishermen and balata bleeders. In both border conflicts, Guyana attempted to strengthen bilateral relations with Venezuela and Suriname and manage the relationships in a non-aggressive, non-confrontational manner while employing varied strategies to repel all attempts to violate her territorial integrity.
Guyana consequently devised a number of strategies and promoted several broad ideological themes that furthered this agenda including: promoting multilateralism and securing support from powerful regional and non-regional states and international organisations; gaining prominence and leadership in international affairs, particularly those that related to Third World nations; promoting nonalignment and support for anti-colonial causes globally and resistance to apartheid and; Commonwealth Caribbean unity.
In the immediate pre and post independence period, the governing Burnham regime courted and was courted by the US and western capitalist powers. Burnham desired to strengthen his hold on power against the leftist Jagan, and used the support of western capitalist states to accomplish same. It was with US and British assistance that Burnham had attained and maintained political power and US aid was used to produce economic and developmental victories for Burnham onto 1969. Burnham also wanted the hemispheric leader and superpower to be at least neutral in its territorial controversy with Venezuela, considering it had previously been explicit in its support of Venezuela’s position.
Although Guyana was cognizant of American hemispheric interests, the Burnham government also wanted to expand its political and economic linkages and argued that each state ought to be free to pursue its own development path. Guyana therefore simultaneously embraced the multilateral approach to garner support in its border issues, and this strategy gained even more prominence after the state adopted the cooperative socialist ideology after 1970. Guyana perceived multilateralism as an effective and relatively inexpensive platform that could be used to articulate its foreign policy and advance its interests. Guyana actively participated in the United Nations, Non Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth, arguing that these institutions had an obligation to devise systems that could be used to support and defend developing states whose sovereignty and territorial integrity were being threatened. As indications of the success of this strategy, Guyana diplomacy not only successfully kept Venezuela out of the Non Aligned Group and kept this grouping firmly on Guyana‘s side, but the Guyana foreign service produced several distinguished scholars who served at high levels in international institutions and Guyana commanded the confidence of states as it served twice on the UN Security Council (1975-76 and 1982-83).
Indeed, Guyana played a leading role in the UN and Non Aligned Movement, particularly as it related to supporting anti-colonialist and anti-apartheid causes. Guyana championed such causes in parts of Africa, especially Angola and Mozambique and condemned the apartheid structures in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Namibia and South Africa. Apart from offering moral support at international forums, Guyana’s support also extended to providing financial assistance in the fight against racism in southern Africa. This was an extremely effective political act since Guyana was a poor state and her generosity was rewarded as Guyana was in turn backed by African and Asian states in its diplomatic conflicts, particularly with Venezuela. Guyana’s activism on the anti apartheid cause resulted in the country being unanimously elected by the UN General Assembly to serve on the UN Council for South West Africa (later Namibia) in May 1967.
In addition to promoting multilateralism and enhancing its international profile, the effort to secure Guyana’s borders also led to the cultivation of a close relationship with Brazil. This was a key aspect of the overall strategy to protect Guyana’s territorial integrity and Guyana encouraged intensive diplomatic interaction with Brazil. The principle of the inviolability of established international borders that have been arrived at through arbitration agreements was espoused by Brazil and Guyana and both also stated their opposition to unilateral renunciations of international arbitrations that establish boundaries. Brazil was also conscious of the implications for continental balance if Venezuela’s claims to Guyana’s territory were satisfied and consequently supported Guyana.
The post 1970s also witnessed the formalisation of diplomatic and economic relationships with the communist governments in Cuba, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union as the PNC government argued it wanted to diversify Guyana’s linkages and developmental options. Initially, Burnham and the PNC ignored the close ties that had been developing between Guyana and Cuba under Jagan prior to independence but this stance changed as Burnham supported Castro and Cuba during the 1970s and early 1980s. Diplomatic ties were established between Guyana and Cuba in 1972 and as evidence of the close connection that evolved between the two states, Burnham was awarded Cuba’s highest honour, the José Martí National Order.
Guyana strong relationship with the communist bloc after 1970 could also be seen through the establishment of diplomatic ties with China in 1972 and, as Guyana’s socialist reorientation intensified, China offered Guyana interest-free loans and bought Guyana’s bauxite and sugar. In recognition of Guyana’s socialist thrust, the USSR assigned a resident ambassador to Guyana in 1976. Burnham also paid official state visits to a number of communist countries including Bulgaria and China in the early 1980s to request increased economic assistance as Guyana was experiencing an economic crisis.
As Guyana’s ties with the communist bloc strengthened, its relationship with the US declined considerably. By the mid 1970s, US aid to Guyana had practically ceased as Burnham had nationalized the major economic sectors and had gravitated towards the communist bloc. The relationship between the US and Guyana became even more fractious after the US invaded Grenada in 1983 and Guyana was excluded from the Reagan-sponsored Caribbean Basin Initiative. Guyana and the United States’ relationship improved after Burnham’s death in 1985 as the foreign policy stance of the state again shifted to accommodate the state’s re-embrace of liberal capitalism under Desmond Hoyte‘s leadership.
Despite Guyana being geographically located in South America, Guyana’s international relations have prioritised links with the English-speaking Caribbean. Guyana believed that a solid relationship with the latter was crucial to its overall national security and its capacity to respond to territorial challenges. Guyana has also argued that a unified position would enhance the visibility and negotiating strength of these small, vulnerable Caribbean states in the international arena. In 1965, Guyana, Barbados and Antigua created CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association), the precursor to CARICOM (Caribbean Community), which was established in 1973. Guyana’s commitment to regional unity is clearly seen through its hosting of the CARICOM Secretariat. Guyana effectively utilised CARIFTA and then CARICOM to inform its Caribbean partners of acts of territorial aggression and CARICOM continuously and explicitly supported Guyana in both border conflicts.
This is not to suggest that Guyana’s relationship with CARICOM has always been good. Conflict emerged after Guyana adopted cooperative socialism as the other CARICOM states were pro-west with the exception of Grenada and Jamaica during the 1970s. Further, CARICOM’s survival and effectiveness as a regional institution were undermined by the division in the region over the American invasion of Grenada. Burnham criticised and chastised Caribbean leaders who supported the US invasion, especially Dominica’s Prime Minister, Eugenia Charles. Desmond Hoyte’s accession to the presidency in 1985 led to an improvement in Guyana – CARICOM relations but by that time Guyana’s profile in the organisation had been diminished, partially because of her impoverished state and Guyana thereafter no longer directed the agenda of or exerted leadership over this regional body. Guyana nonetheless attempted to broadly coordinate its foreign policy stance with other CARICOM states, especially when voting in international organisations such as the UN, OAS and Commonwealth.
In conclusion, as Cedric Grant notes, one striking character of Guyana’s international relations was its global spread within the context of the state’s limited resources. Whatever their failings domestically, Burnham and the PNC undoubtedly had notable successes in the international arena.
