Guest editorial

Guyana stands firm against Venezuela’s territorial ambitions  

By Ronald Austin

If the guiding hand of History had acted differently and set the borders between Guyana and Venezuela in any other area than the Essequibo, the chances are the former would not have been burdened from the very moment of its independence with a claim to over 60% of its territory by a much bigger Western neighbor. History decreed otherwise.  The border between the two states, defined by the 1899 Award, ends at territory west of the Essequibo.

At the UN, in 1962, Venezuela denounced the 1899 Award as null and void. But this was not merely the revival of a claim which Venezuela had accepted for more than sixty (60) years. it was a calculated decision to stifle a young nation in its cradle. The revival of the claim came four years before Guyana became an independent state.

Make no mistake the Spanish men in Caracas know what they are doing. Its long-term strategic objective is to get a part or all the Essequibo. If this happens, Venezuela can pursue its aim of dominating the Caribbean by getting a channel to the Atlantic. Thus positioned, and already fortified by the conquest of Bird Island, it can control the Eastern Caribbean. The loss of the Essequibo or its truncation can stymie the regions’ long-term contribution to the development of Guyana.

Venezuela knows that the Essequibo region is one of the richest regions in the English-speaking Caribbean and they are determined to get it. Caracas knows that the longer they take to pluck this rich strategic prize the more difficult it will be to dismember a growing and oil rich Petro State of Guyana. Their determination is in their policy. After the Geneva Agreement a Mixed Commission was created. This gave Caracas the opportunity to prove the nullity of the 1899 Award. Instead, Venezuela proposed the Joint Development of the Essequibo, a move reminiscent of imperialist powers of the nineteenth century. This development alarmed the then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. In a seminal address to the General Council of his party in 1976 he warned that Venezuelan expansionism represented a threat not only to Guyana but also to the Caribbean Community itself.

Frustrated with the rejection of its proposal for Joint Development, Venezuela invaded and occupied the island of Ankoko, the eastern half of which, by virtue of the 1899 Arbitral Award, belongs to Guyana. This lawless action occurred even as the Mixed Commission was in session. But this was merely the opening moves in a campaign of harassment. Over the last three decades Venezuela has harassed our soldiers on the border, the last occasion being only a few days ago. It has effected a military buildup on Ankoko Island, built a bridge joining the Island to its mainland, held a Referendum and passed an Organic law to prepare the ground to annex the Essequibo. These developments are unprecedented in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

And a few a days ago Venezuela contorted itself in trying to hold elections in the Essequibo to elect representatives to its National Assembly. All of this has been done despite the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Venezuela should not do anything to worsen the situation between the two countries before a final decision is rendered. Venezuela is also in violation of the Argyle Agreement of December 2023 which prohibited nations from taking bellicose actions to solve bilateral problems.

Why is Venezuela making this frenzied attempt to grab land and maritime area which do not belong to It? Essequibo is Guyana’s richest region. It has gold, diamonds, rare earth and other precious minerals. And of course, oil which was found off the Essequibo in 2015. Guyana has been producing so quickly that it is projected to move from producing 600, 000 barrels a day currently to one million barrels a day by 2027. Guyana oil wealth can translate into more effective diplomacy, greater military help from some of the big nations (America, France and Britain have been helpful) and give it the kind of political weight in the region that desecrating its territorial integrity will become more difficult, if not impossible.

Pride in the nation over its newfound oil wealth, concerned by the continuous and persistent lawless behavior of Venezuela, and alarmed by the indecency of Venezuela trying to hold elections in Guyana’s sovereignty territory have elicited a well-founded sense of patriotism nationalism among the people of Guyana. Over the weekend this was on full display when the people of Guyana, in a united manner, rejected the attempt to hold elections in the Essequibo. The message was clear: the people were not prepared to give up one inch of its territory. The gambit of a new imperialism had failed.

Ronald Austin is the former Guyana Ambassador to Beijing, China    

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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect The Caribbean Camera’s official position.