AN exceptional circumstance has led to the Commonwealth bloc of nations upgrading the Guyana/Venezuela controversy to its agenda for its Foreign Ministers meeting shortly.Secretary-General of the 53-member Commonwealth group of nations, Kamalesh Sharma arrived in Guyana over the weekend to meet with the newly-elected David Granger Administration, and in an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday emphasised what it means to have the full weight of the Commonwealth being brought to bear on the border issue between the two countries.

Sharma told this publication that there is already in existence a Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana, created in 1999 at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in South Africa.
That international group has had several meetings over the past 16 years, according to Sharma.
The Secretary-General explained to this publication that among the underpinning principles of the ministerial grouping is for a special meeting to be convened “in special circumstances.”

According to Sharma, the Commonwealth has been briefed on the recent developments with Guyana’s neighbour Venezuela, “and we are absolutely convinced that this is an exceptional circumstance which requires this meeting to be called.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in May of this year, signed a Presidential Decree claiming all of Guyana’s Essequibo County, along with its continental offshore, unilaterally seeking to usurp control over sovereign territory.
Sharma yesterday updated the Guyana Chronicle on correspondence with the various Foreign Ministers of the 53-member countries “to meet and consider an expression of solidarity for Guyana in the special circumstances which have arisen recently.”
The Secretary-General pointed out that firstly, the Commonwealth is made up of 53 countries, which also make up more than a quarter of the United Nations (UN). More importantly, he said, the Commonwealth is “the most diverse organisation in the world; it has membership from the Caribbean, from Asia, from Africa, from Europe, the Pacific, Australia…So when an expression of solidarity comes to Guyana from the Commonwealth, it has a very different meaning.”
He also noted, “We are the prototype of the whole world.”
The Secretary-General explained that solidarity from the Commonwealth does not just reflect the numbers of more than 50 countries, but it also represents a very diverse composition of nations taking one stand; in this case, with Guyana against Venezuela.
PUBLIC STATEMENT
Asked about direct communication with Venezuela on the Commonwealth’s position, Secretary-General Sharma told the Guyana Chronicle that the official statement issued over the weekend in support of Guyana’s territorial integrity “is a public statement to everybody.”
He made it clear that Venezuela is a Party to the entire debacle, and that if the Commonwealth were to make an official pronouncement, as it did over the weekend, “it is obviously one which they will be the first to see.”

Sharma said, too, that to date, the Venezuelans have made no formal contact with the Commonwealth over its position on the border issue, but made it clear too, “We don’t address member states who are not members of the Commonwealth, but the modality which we use is a public statement.”
Shortly after his arrival here on Saturday, Sharma released the Commonwealth missive, which expressed its support for Guyana’s territorial integrity.
At the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka in 2013, Commonwealth leaders “…reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the maintenance and preservation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Sharma, in the Commonwealth’s weekend missive on the issue, stated, “Commonwealth Member Governments, individually and collectively, are also committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes and to the rule of law.”
He told the Guyana Chronicle that the Commonwealth’s position is underscored by two principles, the first being support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty for Guyana; and secondly, “the resolution must be a peaceful one agreed upon by both parties.”
Regarding the details as to how the countries can settle the dispute peacefully, Sharma said this is left up to the two countries.
DISCUSSING PRIORITIES
Meanwhile, on the matter of his substantive visit to Guyana, Secretary-General Sharma told the Guyana Chronicle that he is essentially here to meet the new Government, since it is of utmost importance for the person holding his post “to discuss the priorities which member states have for themselves.”
The Commonwealth, he said, prides itself on being “the small states organisation…it is quite unique in this respect.”
He explained that given the unique ability of the Commonwealth and the way it assists small states, “it is very important for me as Secretary General, with the new Government, to see what their priorities are nationally and where it is that they feel that the Commonwealth could play a role.”
Sharma remarked too that his objectives in Guyana also included engaging the new Administration on the matters to be dealt with at the upcoming CHOGM to be held in the Southern European island country of Malta in November.

By Gary Eleazar