It is, truth be told, a considerable pity that relations between Guyana and Suriname at the government-to- government level have not, for the most part, matched cross-border people-to-people relations. The former, our foreign policy analysts will be aware, have been blighted periodically by interludes of friction arising out of Suriname’s territorial claims against Guyana. In fact it can be argued that over the years the two countries have enjoyed excellent people-to-people relations. Large numbers of Guyanese have resided in Suriname for many years, travel between the two countries has long been commonplace and business relations between Surinamese businesses and our own businesses chiefly in the Corentyne have been enduring. This newspaper has reported on visits by local business delegations from both sides and on discourses between their respective Business Support Organizations. By contrast, it is no secret that some of the bilateral encounters that have occurred between the two countries over the years have been characterised by surliness and bickering, the matter of the territorial claim almost always being the bone of contention.
It reposes in the nature of territorial claims that these tend to create differences between and amongst countries which, understandably, can become difficult to resolve. This, because it is not commonplace for countries to relinquish such claims though history has recorded instances of amicable bilateral relations between countries prevailing even as territorial disputes persist. This, to a large extent, has been the case between Guyana and Suriname, at the people-to-people level. There have, however, been some worrying official occurrences, the most recent being the 2000 eviction from Guyana’s waters, by Suriname gunboats, of an oil-seeking CGX rig.
The circumstances of the border issue notwithstanding, the prospects for significantly enhanced relations between the two countries are, arguably, good at this time. In recent years, both countries have struck world- class deposits of oil, a circumstance that has won what had been two of the more low-key countries in this part of the world, significant international attention.
Oil, conceivably, can hopefully kick-start a different level of cordiality and cooperation in the relationship between Guyana and Suriname. This can extend into a wide range of socio-economic vistas, over time. Contextually, the visit here in August by the Surinamese President, specifically to attend President Irfaan Ali’s inauguration can be interpreted as a positive development for both countries.
And now there is the announcement that Georgetown and Paramaribo are to sign a formal agreement in November that will pave the way for the building of a bridge across the Corentyne River. That signing, presumably, will take place when the Guyanese president visits Suriname for that country’s independence celebrations.
This is a positive note on which the PPP/C administration commences relations with neighbouring Suriname, though one must caution that historically, the signing of bilateral agreements, communiqués, MOUs, and the like, between Guyana and neighbouring countries, including Suriname, have frequently been followed by lengthy interludes of dithering and inactivity and in a number of instances no conclusive follow-up. At a time when Guyana is seeking, presumably, to strengthen its business and economic ties with countries in the hemisphere and beyond as an extension of what we understand to be government’s interest in attracting attention to the country’s investment potential, Suriname is a strategically interesting point from which a start can be made.
It may well be that the aforementioned recent convergence of oil fortunes between these two countries may be showing signs of a preparedness, on both sides, to subsume their differences beneath the prospects that repose in an enhanced bilateral relationship. This is what they should be aiming for.
