Dear Editor,
As we continue to examine the claim by Venezuela to a significant portion of our land, we need to be reminded that this matter was settled by an international arbitration award in 1899. Every time this issue resurfaces we can see hands of rank political opportunism which have been used at the expense of Guyana’s development.
The resurfacing of the claim under the leadership of President Maduro speaks to an act of desperation by a political leader who ran his last political campaign on the legacy of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. President Maduro continues to live in the shadow of the late President Chávez. However, since his assumption to office his leadership has shown failure in every form to develop any indigenous plan to help his countrymen and women out of the economic and political morass into which he plunged his country.
Having failed his people at the domestic level, President Maduro has taken on the task of reshaping himself as a nationalist, and for that reason he chose to take on Guyana, a country he perceives does not have the military strength to combat his aggression. President Maduro’s action is designed to give him political currency to maintain power at the upcoming elections.
We have a task as a peaceful people to recognise the importance of resisting Venezuela’s aggression and dismiss their claim, since it could well stymie the economic development of Guyana, and limit economic opportunities for all Guyanese. To fail to resist the claim and aggression can lead to difficulties attracting finance for projects within the area of Venezuela’s spurious claim.
We should continue to rally the citizens of this country to defend our territorial integrity at all costs, since Venezuela is aggressively rallying the Latin American community in their support.
As this issue continues to generate national conversations, Professor Justice Duke Pollard, a constitutional scholar, said through Stabroek News’ letter column on Saturday, September 26,
“what appears to be required is an approach to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in whose court the ball has now been firmly located, to invoke Article 99 of the Charter to bring the aggressive acts of Venezuela, which undeniably threaten international peace and security, to the attention of the Security Council with an invitation for that body to secure from the International Court of Justice an Advisory Opinion on the current controversy between Venezuela and Guyana.”
It is this type of recommendation to which we must all give support in order to defend every square inch of our country.
Yours faithfully,
Sharma Solomon