One of the most disturbing things to emerge from the recent study by the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) into issues surrounding indigenous land tenure is the situation in Kaikan, Region Seven.
The village of Kaikan is a small community inhabited mostly by members of the Akawaio nation along with some Arecunas, but it takes on a strategic significance by virtue of the fact that it is located close to the border with Venezuela. In 2015, a Venezuelan military helicopter landed there, and four years later, the APA are now reporting villagers as complaining about Venezuelan helicopter flyovers as a consequence of the presence of GDF barracks in the centre of Kaikan. If it is indeed the case that our western neighbour continues to violate our air space with impunity, then one can only wonder why it is that the government has not dispatched the appropriate diplomatic note to Caracas, and alerted the UN and other relevant bodies such as CARICOM to the incursions.
As is well known, the sindicatos, who are effectively operating as the proxies for the Venezuelan National Guard, have in the not-so-distant past terrorised Venezuelan and Guyanese miners on both sides of the Cuyuni River, running protection rackets in the case of the former and behaving like the ingrained thugs that they are in the case of the latter. The details of the precise situation at present have not seeped down to the coast, although in June, the state paper reported that under Operation Armadillo, “operational deployment” along the western border had been “strengthened.” The objective, it said, was to deal with the criminal gangs and “protect the country’s frontline villages,” and that the action had had the consequence of effecting a reduction in the number of assaults perpetrated by the sindicatos.
Well if it is indeed the case that the bandits from the west are under some measure of control, the APA did not find evidence that the residents of Kaikan were insulated from all varieties of Venezuelan intrusion. At the present time, of course, Venezuela is under enormous economic and political stress, and inevitably, migrants from the western side of the river have been arriving in our land space with a view to trading or working in the mines. The APA noted the unease expressed by the Kaikan villagers about this, not least because of the link between migration and the increase in crime.
“There have been increased thefts in the village, along with illegal drug smuggling and trafficking of unlicensed guns through and around the village. There is a ‘kayamu’ [brothel] that has been established just across the Tshuau (Carak Paru) and army soldiers also bring prostitutes into the village at the army base. The increased number of outsiders is also spreading some diseases in the village. The Venezuelans coming across the border are not indigenous,” said the report.
Since, as mentioned above, Operation Armadillo is supposed to have as one of its aims, the protection of frontline villages, it is something of a revelation to discover that not only is the army not discharging this function, but that according to the report, it constitutes a significant problem in its own right. The GDF had come first to the village on border patrols, the APA explained, and then remained on the excuse that it was protecting the airstrip there.
Since it has been entrenched in the community, there have been accusations of women being sexually assaulted and soldiers engaging in relationships with married women, thereby causing friction. In addition, villagers have reported that they have been threatened and intimidated when they try to protect their daughters from ranks who have come into their homes uninvited. On a different, but related note, the APA said there had recently been allegations about the military taking advantage of Vene-zuelan prostitutes, by confiscating their ID cards and forcing them to engage in sex in order to have these returned. So much for Operation Armadillo.
As if that were not enough, there are also allegations about police and soldiers being involved in theft in the community over the years, and even breaking into village shops to steal food.
It is not that villagers do not understand the army is supposed to be providing security for Kaikan, said the report, or that some of them are not concerned about escalating tensions between Guyana and Venezuela; it is just that they think that the GDF presence is unnecessary. It does not provide them with greater safety, they say, than what is already afforded by the village council and the Community Policing Group. In fact, their suggestion is that Community Policing members should be paid a stipend.
The report pointed out the inappropriate location of the army barracks, which is sited right next to the school in the centre of the village. Residents are said to have frequently requested not just that it be moved from the centre, but that it be shifted out of the settlement altogether.
One has to ask whether Brigadier Patrick West has read the APA report, or at least those portions of it pertinent to his remit. If he hasn’t, then he had better do so quickly. Here we have allegations against his troops of sexual assault and intimidation, among other instances of criminal activity, and yet it hasn’t caused even the smallest shiver to run down the military spines at Camp Ayanganna. Is it because this outrage is taking place in the interior that the powers-that-be feel it can be ignored? Had this been going on for so long in a village on the coast, notice would have had to be taken of it.
Just who, one wonders, is in charge of the barracks at Kaikan, and when last did senior officers from HQ carry out an inspection? The very least that can be said is that army discipline appears to be at a very low ebb in this part of the country, which is not a comforting thought since this is a sensitive border area where the Venezuelans periodically attempt to assert themselves. Especially given the current tensions between Guyana and Venezuela, Guyanese need to have confidence in their military. They need to be assured that although it is a small force, it is disciplined, well-trained, well-organised and well-led; and that it will unreservedly discharge its duty within the confines of its capabilities. The accounts of criminal behaviour coming out of Kaikan give no one a sense of confidence in the GDF.
Frontier villages like Kaikan are vital to our border security. They are our eyes and ears, and consequently, it is important that they develop a trust in the security forces as well as the authorities on the coast, so they feel that they are an integral part of the system which protects our frontiers. The authorities need to be alert to their concerns at all levels, and in the case of Kaikan, the residents also have land issues and major challenges from miners, neither of which it must be said, fall within the purview of the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, but which should nevertheless be addressed by the appropriate official agencies. Venezuelan migrants are the province of the police in the first instance, who from what can be gleaned from the report, appear to be a great deal less than diligent about discharging their functions in this regard than they should be.
As an immediate priority, Brigadier West cannot allow his men to continue behaving as they have been doing, and as a first step, he should comply with villagers’ wishes and move the army out of Kaikan. It may be there needs to be a review of frontier operations at all levels, including mitigating the stresses of such a posting. He should recognise, however, that had some of the incidents occurred in a more urbanised setting, they could have involved criminal charges, although for a whole range of reasons, the guilty parties may not have to face justice for past deeds in this instance. If he cannot do anything about the past, he can at least prevent such transgressions in the future, and work out a strategy for rebuilding relations with the villagers.
And as for the Commissioner of Police, he should follow suit and move his men out of Kaikan too.
