Admitting that it was he who advised President David Granger to not disclose the ExxonMobil US$18M signature bonus, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge yesterday said that he thought then and still believes that publicising of the deal holds serious implications for Guyana pertaining to the border controversy with Venezuela.
“I think the main concern at the time when the deliberations were taking place was to not show our hand. It was simple as that,” Greenidge told a press conference he called following an address to the National Assembly on the matter.
“If you are in a court case with someone else, you and your lawyers have to work on a strategy. If you are aware of what the other side is going to do, how much money they have to spend, how much money they devoted to whatever…aware of all the lawyers that were recruited and will be recruited, you can structure your strategy to make life difficult for them. In terms of either stretching out processes or carrying things in certain directions. It is a very real risk and does involve problems,” he added.