President David Granger is not worried by the recent strengthening of bilateral ties between Venezuela and several Caribbean countries.
Asked if he believes Venezuela is attempting to undermine Guyana’s ties to the Caribbean Community, Granger on Monday said Caracas has been trying to undermine Guyana’s position in the Caribbean community for the last 40 years, but emphasised that he is not worried that these efforts will yield fruit.
“What we are seeing is nothing new. They have been doing that since Caribbean states started to gain their independence in the 1970s,” Granger explained, while adding, “We will continue to take a principled stand, principled position on the territorial matter. We will also continue to work with our Caribbean colleagues, we expect them to be true to their word. They gave us their support at the last Heads of Government meeting in July and I expect that that support will not fail.”
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday concluded a two-day four-country tour of the Caribbean. According to the Venezuelan state media TelesurTV, the visits were intended to fortify bilateral cooperation across the region, with an emphasis on cross-region projects. The lightning visits were the latest swing through the Caribbean by Maduro, who has been on a campaign in Caricom to win support for Caracas’ position in its ongoing border controversy with Guyana.
During Maduro’s visits to the states of Grenada, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia, major bilateral projects under the PetroCaribe arrangement were unveiled.
On the final leg of the trip, Grenada’s Hugo Chavez Gas Plant was unveiled. The plant to supply Grenada with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was reportedly constructed with a $10.5M investment from Venezuela. It was also announced that Venezuela would fund the construction of a new eye clinic on that island state.
Earlier that day Antigua announced that it had formed a “strategic alliance” with Venezuela that will see Caracas taking a 25% stake in the West Indies Oil Company, setting up a regional bank and constructing a resort among other ventures.
These announcements came one day after Maduro clinched a rice deal with Suriname. The rice deal with Suriname comes on the cusp of the end of a similar deal with Guyana. Venezuela earlier this year told Georgetown that a lucrative rice barter arrangement would come to an end in November to allow other South American rice producers to benefit.
Analysts have expressed concern that the deals that Maduro is making in Caricom will eventually weaken the solidarity that Guyana has always enjoyed in relation to the inviolability of its territorial integrity.
Responding to these concerns, Granger told reporters that “every country has to look after its own national interest. We have had commercial ties with Venezuela with petroleum and rice. Venezuela has set up institutions here; the Hugo Chavez Centre and another sports centre. Apart from the territorial dispute, we have had fairly cordial relations with Venezuela over last 45 to 50 years, so I cannot complain when other Caribbean countries tend to pursue their own national interest but in the end I don’t expect that the pursuit of that national interest should be prejudicial to Guyana’s territorial integrity.”
Responding to questions about the effect of the loss of the Venezuelan market to Guyana’s rice industry, Granger said “Venezuela only took 35 to 40% of our rice, so we have never been wholly dependent on Venezuela market. We continue to search for markets.”
He noted that at the UN General Assembly, in September, he raised the possibility of rice sales to the leaders of several countries. He further noted that “one of the tasks for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to seek markets for our products including rice.”
