Guyana / Venezuela Dispute: A threat to regional security

The stability of the modern world is such that even before political storms and deadly armed conflicts are resolved in one region, another erupts somewhere else further threatening global peace. Whilst the unnecessary war between Ukraine and Russia raged on, Israel chose to seize the opportunity provided by an armed attack by the Palestinian fighters of Hamas to launch a veritable genocide on the Palestinian people, virtually razing Gaza to the ground. It amounts to one of the worst such massacres in human history, in blatant defiance of the international community.

We in the Caribbean, though physically distant from these battlegrounds, take our commitment to maintaining our region as a Zone of Peace very seriously, and scrupulously insist on the observance of the principle that all disputes between states much be settled peacefully. However, in recent months a veritable “ghost from the past” originating from the days of colonial plunder, has been threatening to disturb regional peace and security.

This relates to the territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. This has its roots in the heyday of the British empire when Britain used military might to seize territories all around the globe and claim them as its own. It has left the world with disputes which while settled by “treaties” imposed by the stronger force, are still to the dissatisfaction of independent states. It has even led to war between Britain and Argentina four decades ago over the Malvinas Islands, which is still a bone of contention today.

In the case of the Caribbean, there remains a long-standing dispute between South American neighbours Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo territory, an area occupying fully two-thirds of Guyana’s territory which continues to be claimed by Venezuela as stolen from it. Incidentally Venezuela was in a dispute with Dominica over ownership of a small island, Bird Island, situated 140 miles west of Dominica but 340 miles north of Venezuela.

In the case of the disputed Essequibo, very rich agricultural lands, but now the site of very lucrative oil deposits being exploited by United States and multinational corporations, Venezuela continues to press its claims, insisting that the settlement made by Britain to cede Essequibo to then “British” Guyana were unjustly imposed on it. There is thus a dispute over the validity of the ownership of the Essequibo with each side holding different positions on any settlement.

Recently Venezuela, which has excellent relations with many CARICOM states, including our own, has stepped up its demands about Essequibo. It has organized a referendum on Essequibo for December 3. But CARICOM has given full support to Guyana’s rejection of the validity of the referendum. In a statement two weeks ago, CARICOM stated that the proposed referendum is of “no validity” and that by claiming a vote in favour authorizes Venezuela to begin to take steps to annex the disputed region, it threatens “to undermine peace and security” in the region.

It is a worrying sign that this dispute has resurfaced given the excellent relations between Venezuela and CARICOM states, particularly those which belong to ALBA and are signatories to the Petrocaribe Agreement. In addition, the political leadership in Venezuela is particularly close to some counterparts in the region, particularly those in Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

We are not aware of what behind-the-scenes efforts are being made, but we urge our Prime Minister to use his good offices to intervene and to insist on peaceful dialogue as a means to settlement of this dispute arising from the days of the empire. It is no easy task, but we must avoid unnecessary armed conflict.