President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has been very loquacious on the subject of Guyana recently. However, before he says anything else perhaps he should send his translators on a crash course in advanced English so they could discover for themselves that the expression “monkey on [Guyana’s] back” is a figure of speech and has nothing whatever to do with simians in any literal sense.
But if that misinterpretation of what President David Granger was referring to when he addressed the Caricom Heads raised a slight smile on this side of the Amakura, President Maduro’s imperfect reading of history was altogether more tiresome. In an interview with TeleSur last week, he cheerfully told a South American audience (TeleSur is broadcast throughout Latin America) that Venezuela in colonial times had “controlled everything to the west of the Essequibo river,” and that there had always been a dispute about the land to the east of the Essequibo.
After dilating on various other historical fantasies, he went on to say that in 1824 the British Empire recognized the entire Essequibo territory as Venezuelan, and the population of what is now Guyana did not live there then. As for the current residents of Essequibo, these were accounted for, he said, by the fact that “more recently, the area has been populated with mercenaries, paramilitary groups to control mineral reserves…”
President Maduro went on to expatiate on a number of other dubious ‘historical’ assertions, before landing up finally at the Paris Award of 1899. Even that he seemed very confused about, saying that “Washington and London conspired to take Guayana Esequiba from Venezuela to reach the Orinoco.” Well, this is a really novel accusation, because the Venezuelan allegation since 1962 has always been that it was the British and the Russians who did a secret deal to ‘deprive’ Venezuela of territory. (There is absolutely no evidence of this.)
Leaving aside all the other nonsense about the past that the Head of State talked, there is one detail which would be of especial interest to ordinary Guyanese, more particularly Essequibians. What message, he was asked by the interviewer, would he send to the people of Guyana. His response in part was: “If you look at the DNA of our mixed blood, you’ll find the blood of Bolívar, Guacaipuro, Negro Primero and Sucre [Venezuelan heroes in the struggle against the Spanish] – who (went to great lengths to) free the people…” And at a later point: “Our grandfathers won that sacred land [Essequibo] fighting in battles.”
One shouldn’t have to tell any Guyanese that the British did not recognize Essequibo as Venezuelan in 1824, let alone that Venezuelans won the land fighting in battles. What battles? Where? And against whom? This is a fairy story. The blood of the “liberators” never soaked Essequibo soil; the only people whose bones have been laid to rest there are those of the Amerindians, Africans, Indians, Portuguese and Chinese who either lived in its forest and savannahs, or worked its coastal estates; in addition there are those of the Dutch and British colonial officials. There is simply no part of our Essequibo which was occupied by the Spaniards or the Venezuelans at any time after 1616.
And as for writing off the people of Essequibo as mercenaries and paramilitary groups, that would be insulting if it weren’t so absurd.
But that wasn’t everything: President Maduro has, it seems launched a booklet concerning what he calls the truth about Essequibo which is to be distributed. If its contents are anything like the views he expressed during the interview, then it should certainly become a collector’s item, if only for its curiosity value.
But in addition to interviews and booklets, the Venezuelan Head of State is, not unexpectedly, moving with energy on the diplomatic front. During the TeleSur interview he informed viewers that he had held talks with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador on the Essequibo issue, as well as with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). “I think that among the key groups is Celac, because it includes the Caribbean, Alba, which was led by Chávez, Fidel and Raúl… For many years there was a lack of trust, and our brothers in the Caribbean didn’t view the rest of Latin America in a positive light, and vice-versa…”
We reported today too on his approach to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for the appointment of a Good Officer, an approach which Guyana is not anxious to pursue, preferring instead a judicial settlement. It is quite clear, however, that Venezuela intends to do everything to resist that.
On Friday, the Caracas daily El Universal reported retired Colonel Pompeyo Torrealba as saying that President Maduro had instructed that the issue of Essequibo be taught as a subject in universities as well as in high and elementary schools, and also to the media located in border areas. The Colonel is the co-ordinator for the Office for the Rescue of Essequibo, created by the Venezuelan government to try and “recover” the area.
The paper also said he was proposing to issue identity cards for Essequibo’s 200,000 estimated inhabitants, in addition to an awareness campaign so the people of Guyana could understand that the land belongs to Venezuela. One can only marvel that Caracas is in such a hurry to issue ID cards to Guyanese “mercenaries” and “paramilitary groups.” On a more serious note, however, this is not the first time that Venezuela has announced the issuing of ID cards to Essequibians, which in its earlier incarnation gave them the right to settle in Venezuela. Needless to say, it fizzled out, and hadn’t been heard of for many years until now.
And as for the instruction in schools, that is the revival of a policy which was in operation too years ago, in addition to which there used to be a centre in Merida dealing with border issues (albeit less dramatically named than its current counterpart) which was eventually closed down. In short, it seems we are returning to the more confrontational approach on the part of Venezuela which characterised a previous era.
So Guyana had better wake up. We too need to resuscitate and expand on the public sensitization and information campaigns which in earlier times kept all government officials, staff of private businesses, local media and the general population aware of the issues and in no doubt that Essequibo was historically, legally and morally ours. There are now all kinds of information avenues which can be utilized that were not available then, and which will reach the young both inside and outside the country.
Then there is the knotty problem of South America, which has always been a supporter of Venezuela on this issue. One has little hope at the moment of making headway with the circle of left-wing presidents in certain countries, but there are others where an academic and diplomatic offensive should be crafted; it is important not to find oneself on one’s own in these South American groupings. There are many things which can be done; it just takes a little imagination and a certain determination. We cannot allow President Maduro’s warped view of history to go unchallenged.
Finally, if Colonel Torrealba thinks he has any hope of persuading Guyanese that Essequibo belongs to Venezuela, he is living in cloud cuckoo land.
