A few days ago, there was an appeal for Guyanese to temporarily change their profile pictures on social media to the map of Guyana with the slogan “One Guyana”. In a time when there is a threat to our national security it seems political agendas cannot be put aside for the unity of our nation.
“One Guyana” is a political slogan. It is not our motto. Guyanese have seen that even though it purports to be one thing to unite us, in fact it is not. Many have concluded that “One Guyana” really means for “one group of people.”
Our motto is “One People, One Nation, One Destiny” and that is what we should stand on. Even with the threat we are facing it seems like those who sit in the seats of power cannot put aside their political agendas and focus only on uniting our people and fighting for our land. We are divided as a nation because of politics. Educated or illiterate there are those who will die defending those who they think are qualified to lead us even if those so-called leaders prove themselves to be vile and unqualified.
While we are changing profile pictures and some are making light of the border issue, the Venezuelans are campaigning, informing their people about what they believe is their right to Essequibo and are preparing to vote on December 3 about whether they should seize Essequibo. The Venezuelans are also in their thousands in this country. Reports are that there are now more Venezuelans than Guyanese in Region 1. People in Region 1 have expressed fear about what they are seeing. They feel that they are under threat. It is concerning that we do not know how many Venezuelans are here. This indicates how negligent we are as a country with protecting our borders. While I do believe in free movement, to leave our borders open, without the knowledge of how many are coming into our country, especially when it is a country that is threatening us, is foolish. Remember though, how the Haitians were rejected from this country? Some will say it is because they were mainly of African descent and with the anti-Blackness that we have seen here, we should not be surprised.
It is scary that there are allegations of there being a political agenda to have Venezuelans vote in our next elections. While many of them would have simply fled the poverty in Venezuela, we can be sure that some of them do believe that Essequibo belongs to them and have come to take it. We saw a case recently where there was an attempted murder of a Guyanese by Venezuelans. A friend of mine who has Venezuelan relatives said that they shared that some of the Venezuelans coming to Guyana are criminals. We must ask ourselves, is the Trojan horse already here?
Despite Guyana asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue emergency measures to stop the referendum, Venezuela said it will go ahead on December 3rd. Another objective of the referendum is to have the people of Venezuela reject the ICJ’s jurisdiction on the matter. The plan is to create a state called Guayana Esequiba.
In the face of the threat from Venezuela many of our people may not fully grasp how serious a threat it is or are fully informed about the history of the border controversy.
It was in 1841 when the Venezuelan government accused the British of encroachment on Venezuelan territory. But how did it get there? The British had acquired British Guiana through a treaty with the Netherlands. The treaty however did not outline the western boundary. Because of this the British hired a surveyor, Robert Schomburgk to delineate the boundary. His 1835 survey resulted in another 30000 square miles for British Guiana.
When gold was discovered, the British tried to further extend its reach by claiming another 33000 square miles. In 1876 Venezuela appealed to the United States for assistance but nothing much was done by the US at the time. In 1895 however the US Secretary of State asked the British to submit the boundary dispute to arbitration. The British at first rejected this. Eventually however the British submitted the dispute to the American boundary commission and Venezuela was certain that the ruling would be in their favour. However, on October 3rd, 1899, the 1835 Schomburgk demarcation was preserved. But, in 1962 Venezuela decided that they would no longer abide by the 1899 decision and here we are today in the era of oil wealth.
Mankind’s greed, a world divided and the desire of the wealthy minority to keep the majority poor, will continue to be the death of us. Colonisers thought they owned whatever land they landed on. They raped the world and its people. They created chaos, led with brutality and racism and the people who suffered because of their actions are still trying to find their way back to being whole. Venezuela was colonised by the Spanish in 1522. Guiana was ruled by the Dutch, French and was officially declared a British colony in 1831. Yet here we are in 2023 and there are two countries with a history of being colonised in a border controversy.
Venezuela is claiming 61776 of our 83000 square miles. Venezuela has 352140 square miles and a population of over 28 million. Common sense says that if a war were to take place (which we hope never happens) that we by ourselves will not be able to beat them.
So, while the matter is in court, what do we do? Venezuela has already shown that they reject the court. What if the worst-case scenario happens? Are we prepared? Do we believe that somehow Venezuela will just back off or that we will be rescued by another country?
We need to see strong leadership in this time but what we are seeing are distractions, the continued vitriol from some politicians and silence. We need leadership that will inspire our people and give them hope. Leadership that will keep our people informed. We need honesty and united leadership. Asking people to change their profile pictures to a map with a political slogan will do nothing in this fight for our land. While singing songs about Essequibo being ours and that we will not give up any part of our land are nice and good for the spirit, that also will not eliminate the threat. We hope that good sense prevails, but we must be prepared for every possibility.
Our oil discoveries have been a blessing and a curse. While most of the people are not benefitting from it and we there are shadows of kleptocracy, we are also now under threat from a neighbouring country. Now more than ever we need to put aside our differences and stand united. But even when a map that is asked to be shared carries a political slogan instead of our motto, can we? I ask again, is the Trojan horse already here?
