Pointing unerringly to her intention to chart a foreign policy course that she regards as best for her tiny island nation, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has, in recent weeks, sent unmistakable signals that she is determined to hitch her country’s sails, first, to the mast of its self- interest.
In July, the Barbados Prime Minister who ‘owns’ the highest international profile among her CARICOM colleagues, returned from a visit to Venezuela with ‘perks’ that included bilateral agreements in areas that include energy, agriculture and air transport, all of those areas being pertinent to the growth of her tiny island nation. Quicker, perhaps, than might have been expected, news broke on Saturday September 30, the 54th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries that an A190-seater airplane from Caracas, will now be travelling to Barbados twice weekly.
While there is no good reason why the Barbados Prime Minister should shy away from seeking support from Venezuela in areas that can do her country a great deal of practical good, first, her visit to Caracas in June and afterwards the new air travel ‘agreement’ between the two countries will be viewed with interest in the Caribbean, more particularly in Guyana where what appears to be current bilateral ‘noises’ arising out of Venezuela’s long-standing territorial claim against Guyana.
At a press conference that followed the red carpet welcome which the Barbados Prime Minister had laid on for her visitors, Venezuela’s Transport Minister Ramón Velásquez disclosed that service between Venezuela and Barbados will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It will be altogether surprising if this development does not trigger a burst of chatter elsewhere in Guyana, particularly since the announcement of the new air transport between Venezuela and Barbados coincided with the 124th Anniversary of the of the arbitral award that settled the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela while asserting that it is awaiting settlement at the World Court of the controversy.
Universal Caribbean Community (CARICOM) support for the legitimacy of Guyana’s territorial integrity has long been one of the bedrocks of a universal CARICOM position though this has never hindered the rest of the region’s pursuit of its own bilateral relations with Venezuela. An earlier indication of the ‘freedom’ of CARICOM member countries to pursue normal bilateral relations with Venezuela while making it unequivocal that the support for Guyana in the matter of the territorial controversy came several days ago when Trinidad and Tobago signed a profit-sharing agreement with Venezuela on the long-delayed Dragon Gas Field project.
Prime Minister Mottley has, over time, become the key cog in the larger CARICOM wheel, her influence on the international stage extending way beyond the size of the Caribbean island which she leads. Her global credentials have derived largely from her advocacy on climate change and the likely fate of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
