Under attack – Venezuelan soldiers shoot at GGMC vessel
Acting GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison
Acting GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison

 

By Alva Solomon

THREE officials of the Mines Services Division of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), together with a boat captain, on Monday reportedly managed to escape being hurt when the boat in which they were travelling became the object of a fusillade of gunshots by persons suspected to be Venezuelan soldiers.Acting GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison last evening confirmed that the incident occurred at sometime after lunch on Monday. He said the verbal report he received indicated that the officers were in the vicinity of Eteringbang, in the Cuyuni area near the Guyana border with Venezuela, when shots were fired from the Venezuelan side of the border.

Dennison said he was told the gunshots were fired across the bow of the vessel.

“They were in the area on what we call a routine compliance and monitoring exercise,” Dennison said. He said that following the incident, the officers reported the matter to the police outpost in the area.

According to Dennison, the officers were on an official tour of duty, and were expected to provide a detailed report when they arrive at the GGMC Headquarters in the city.

Reports out of the area are that the mines officers and the boat’s captain were allowed to continue their journey after the latter had indicated to the Venezuelans the employment identities of the officers.

Monday’s incident occurred at a time when the border controversy between Guyana and its western neighbour has reached heightened levels. Last September, the Venezuela military had reportedly amassed troops with missiles and guns at its eastern border with Guyana.

The David Granger administration has been urging citizens to remain calm, insisting that there is no need for aggression on Guyana’s part.

Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief of Staff Brigadier Mark Phillips had told a media conference at the time that no additional GDF troops were rushed to the border. He said troops at Eteringbang, Kaikan and other observation posts along the Cuyuni River were monitoring the activities by the Venezuelan armed forces on Guyana’s frontiers.

Guyana has made it clear that the Good Offices process of mediating the border controversy between the two countries has run its course, and the next best option is a juridical settlement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with the assistance of the United Nations (UN).

In February this year, President Granger met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and emphasised that: “After 50 years, the Guyanese people are united and they are determined to maintain territorial integrity”.

Guyana has accused Venezuela of a series of acts of aggression, starting with the presidential decree of June 1968. The border controversy flared early last year when American firm ExxonMobil announced that it had made a “significant” oil discovery in the area.

President Granger has expressed confidence in the UN Secretary-General, who is preparing to demit office this year, to select the best course of action to finally resolve the controversy via a juridical process.

 

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