PNCR-1G MP Clarissa Riehl says improved relations between Guyana and Venezuela have provided this country with an opportunity to ask its neighbour to drop its claim to “our territory once and for all.”
The claim to this country’s territory is entrenched in the psyche of the average Venezuelan, she said, noting that solid relations are not enough to conclude that an attack is unlikely. Riehl recalled the incursion in 2007.
“Isn’t this an opportune moment in history with Guyana assuming the chairmanship of UNASUR and solid bilateral relations which the Minister [Foreign Affairs] spoke of to ask Venezuela pointedly to drop her claim to Guyana’s territory,” she asked.
Riehl said she is aware that Professor Norman Girvan has been appointed UN Good Officer to settle the issue, but she stressed there is no harm in asking. She was at the time speaking during the 2011 budget debates on Friday last.
Riehl then turned her attention to President Bharrat Jagdeo saying that the Guyana’s chief diplomat has worked on the issues of climate change and the environment as his “personal pursuit.” She endorsed an editorial in Stabroek News on the issue, noting that the downside of this was the exclusion of Foreign Service officers from a critical area of foreign policy specialization.
“What happens then when the chief diplomat demits office after the upcoming elections? All doors are now opened to him because of his position,” Riehl said, noting that a sound foreign policy must be premised on having skilled diplomats in key positions and not only relying on the head of state to go knocking on doors.
Riehl said too that expertise and specialization are the prerequisites for good diplomatic work and she questioned what the foreign missions abroad offer. She also decried government’s practice of filling overseas missions with political appointees.
Riehl argued that the continued absence of a local ambassador at the United Nations is worrying, noting that of all the diplomatic postings this remains one of the most important, “if not the most important.” She contended that the presence of an ambassador at the UN is one of the least expensive ways to work a country’s foreign policy.
PPP/C MPs listened quietly as Riehl criticized the government’s approach to foreign policy, but the griping started when she turned her attention to Guyana-Brazil relations. She recalled when diplomatic relations were first forged under the PNC government, reminding MPs that the PPP had major concerns at the time.
As she spoke government speakers got agitated saying, “Clarissa was a different time,” and mouthing statements such as, “We don’t support military dictatorships!” Riehl shot back saying that they had no trouble wrapping up with Cuba at the time. Still, she said, this government boasts of sound relations with Brazil without acknowledging its past resentment of the initial ties.
In addition, she spoke of the Foreign Service Institute and called for its resuscitation under a new director, adding it is a valuable instrument in identifying and training candidates for diplomatic missions overseas.
She said that the institute has been downgraded since the death of its Director, Lloyd Searwar. “What a shame! Guyana surely needs a well-trained cadre of competent diplomats trained today, to ensure that Guyana’s interest internationally would be amply protected, tomorrow.”
Riehl said that if the government is going to talk togetherness then it needs to “walk the walk” and utilize the services of former diplomats who still reside here with a wealth of expertise, including former Foreign Minister Rashleigh Jackson, Dr Barton Scotland and Ronald Austin, among others.
Further, Riehl raised the issue of the lack of investigative skills in the police force, since according to her, too many criminal cases collapse in court.
She said that judges are spending hours on voir dires (trial within a trial) because caution statements are constantly challenged. “When the caution statement goes, the case goes…the police need not beat anyone to get a confession,” she said.
Riehl also mentioned that the complement of judges ought to be expanded given the volume of work.
She added that the case backlog is not likely to be reduced if no new appointments are made.
