Guyana is at risk of declining to some 40,000 square miles, if Chávez is allowed to have it all his own way. The Venezuelan President seems most capable of making big noises at places where it counts. The recent Latin American and Caribbean conference in Mexico seemed eager to back Argentina in their territorial claims over the Falklands. Argentina was unable to achieve their aims by armed invasion. Chávez appeared to have injected much impetus into the conference and to assume a more aggressive role on territorial claims. He may easily be dismissed as comical, but he is proving to be astute and aggressive. His aim is to the take over much of Guyana, while everyone else is happily resting on their laurels and treating him like a funny man.
Except for the glowing photo-shoot, Guyana seems to achieve little at these conferences.
The vociferous Chávez has railed loudly against Britain and has sought to let the world know that Britain must hand over her territories in the Falklands to Argentina. It seems that it will only be a matter of time before he will turn his attention to Guyana and slowly tighten the screw.
Guyana has paid a heavy price for its preoccupation with ideologies as opposed to putting the people first.
They seem content with receiving aid and relying on subsidies from abroad, including Venezuelan oil. Developing strong relationships with the countries that really matter does not appear to be the vital criterion in their armoury as far as the future of the nation is concerned, neither does it feature as a motive to secure the country’s integrity.
On the contrary, the President’s nonchalance is even more evident in the vast amount of taxpayers’ money spent on roaming about the Middle East, which has brought little or no real tangible benefits to the country. Guyana’s natural resources are a magnet to other countries to exploit at the cost of the indigenous population. This time it seems that the President is eager to invite the Iranians to join the bandwagon of foreign interests in their quest to exploit the country’s finite resources. The Iranians are desperate for uranium to fuel their nuclear ambitions and the prospects of finding uranium would not escape them under the pretext of their mineral mapping in Guyana.
Iran is a close ally and a backer of Chávez. They would not jeopardize their close ties and their joint interests for the sake of Guyana. Guyana could find itself hanging on a limb, with little to gain and perhaps far more to lose.
Yours faithfully,
Mac Mahase
