Venezuela/Guyana bilateral relations at historic level
–outgoing Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana
HIS Excellency Dario Morandy arrived in Guyana in August 2007 as the Venezuelan Ambassador. Now about to leave these shores after almost five years of service, Ambassador Morandy has the satisfaction of noting that there is an unprecedented level of good relations between the two countries. In an interview over coffee at the Venezuelan Embassy on Thomas Street, Georgetown, Ambassador Morandy made it clear that, in view of the process of social transformation taking place in Latin America, and the structural and economic crises of North America and Europe, Venezuela welcomes regional cooperation as an alternative.
Morandy noted that no other country has done so much work in Guyana. He said Venezuela is recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records as the happiest nation in Latin America. People live happily, they are content, and they want to share that experience with Guyana.
Several issues came up during our talk, as the Guyana/Venezuela bilateral agenda covers a wide range of issues, agreements, projects and programmes of cooperation that have taken place over the past four years. Some of these programmes include the supply of gasoline, diesel and asphalt under conditions of absolute solidarity under the framework of the Petrocaribe Energy Agreement; the Road Link Project between Venezuela and Guyana; construction of the Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Homeless Persons; the Agreement for the Commercialisation of Rice; the Memorandum of Understanding on the procedures to follow in regard to the detention and treatment of fishing vessels and crew members of both countries; the Project for Improvement of the Cold Chain for Non-Traditional and Dairy Sectors; the International Scholarship Programme of Fundayacucho; the Supply of jet A1 fuel for aircraft, which is in the process of being implemented, and more.
Then there is the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation – the IVCC in Spanish. The institute currently serves about 1500 persons in its three areas of development: academic, cultural and social. The last offers training courses for hundreds of Guyanese women who are learning a trade to earn their own incomes. Morandy said that branches of the IVCC are in almost every place in Guyana — La Parfaite Harmonie, Tuschen, Mon Repos, Kuru Kururu, New Amsterdam, Diamond, and more. The programme will remain free because it is intended to become more self-sustainable. There will be an exchange of women lecturing each other.
Also, the embassy has been doing a lot of work with the disabled, and it is one of President Hugo Chavez’s aims to give people with disabilities similar opportunities as the able-bodied. Morandy said in Venezuela it is obligatory for every workplace to employ persons with disabilities, or possibly face sanctions.

Bilateral Agreements include:

The Good Officer Process
In order to resolve the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela involving the Essequibo, both countries decided in 1987 to accept the mechanism of “Good Offices” under Article 33 of the United Nations Charter. In this regard, the Secretary General of the United Nations led the implementation of the mechanism to resolve the controversy, and the mechanism began operating in 1989 with the appointment of a Good Officer.
Following consultations between the two countries, it was agreed to nominate Professor Norman Girvan from Jamaica to be appointed to act as “Good Officer” in the solution of the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy. The UN Secretary-General appointed Professor Norman Girvan on April 19, 2010.
On October 25, 2010, Professor Girvan paid a visit to Georgetown in order to initiate consultations with the governments of Guyana and Venezuela. As of June 1, 2010 Guyana ratified Mr. Hari N. (Ralph) Ramkarran, Speaker of the National Assembly, as Facilitator of the Government of Guyana on the border controversy.
When President Bharrat Jagdeo officially visited Venezuela on July 21, 2010, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, announced the appointment of Ambassador Roy Chaderton as Facilitator for Venezuela.
On May 4, 2011, Prof. Norman Girvan travelled to Venezuela to have his first official meeting with Foreign Relations Minister Nicolas Maduro, and it was agreed to hold regular meetings between Venezuelan facilitator Roy Chaderton and Guyanese facilitator Ralph Ramkarran, who will each report to their respective Foreign Relations Minister on the progress made. The Foreign Relations Ministers of Venezuela and Guyana will then be the ones in charge of keeping UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon updated on the negotiations.

Petrocaribe Agreement:
On January 25, 2007, Venezuela and Guyana signed an agreement under the framework of the “Petrocaribe Energy Agreement”, wherein the state company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) would be supplying 5,200 barrels of oil (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil and asphalt), which represents half of the daily consumption of Guyana. The supply of oil began in May 2007, and has been very useful for this country.
During the July 2010 meeting between former President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, each country reiterated its satisfaction with the functioning of the cooperation programme carried out through the Petrocaribe scheme.
On March 23, 2011, a Petrocaribe Mission visited Georgetown in order to present Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and the Guyana Energy Agency a proposal to create an “Integrated Petrocaribe Fund” which would modify the current funding system. This Fund would be fed with resources from the financed portion of the oil bill.
It is important to highlight that the “Petrocaribe Energy Agreement” is more than just the negotiation of oil derivatives on favourable terms. This is a project of cooperation with profound social content, intended to strengthen the integration of our peoples.

Rice Trade Agreement
On October 21, 2009, a contract was signed between Col. (ENB) Rodolfo Marco Torres, President of La Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícolas (LA CASA), and Mr. Jagnarine Singh, General Director of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), at the office of the Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana, with the participation of Minister Robert Persaud, for the purchase of 50,000 metric tonnes of rice, for which Guyana will receive the sum of US$18.8 million, which would enable the country to meet the demands of small producers. For this commercial transaction, the mechanism for compensation was invoked under the “PETROCARIBE Energy Cooperation Agreement”.
A chronogram of 11 shipments was prepared, which, on November 21, 2009, initiated the first major trade agreement between Venezuela and Guyana.
During the official visit of President Bharrat Jagdeo to Venezuela in July 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of People’s Power for Food and the Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana, wherein it was agreed that Venezuela would import 50,000 metric tones (MT) of Guyana paddy and 20,000 metric tonnes of white rice. This contract is valid for a period of one year, and is renewable by mutual agreement.
In April 2011, the GRDB and the corporation CASA agreed on new orders for the purchase of Guyana’s rice, this time amounting to 50,000 MT of paddy and 30,000 MT of white rice.

Plan for International Scholarships of FUNDAYACUCHO:
In 2010, the International Scholarship Programme “Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho” was launched in Guyana.
In March 2010, the foundation Fundación Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (Fundayacucho) offered 10 scholarships to Guyanese students to pursue further studies in the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), “Salvador Allende”, located in Caracas, under the framework of the international scholarship programme of that institution.
On March 11, 2010, a Committee of Social Workers of the foundation Fundación Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (Fundayacucho), announced in Georgetown, the selection of the 10 Guyanese students to benefit from the international scholarship plan to study at the Latin American school of medicine, “Salvador Allende”, in Caracas.
In March 2011, the number of scholarships being offered to the young people of Guyana was increased to 13 . The selection process was repeated, and 12 students were chosen to study Community Medicine at the Latin American school of medicine, “Salvador Allende” (ELAM), and one student to study Tourism, which now amounts to 23 Guyanese students who received scholarships to study in Venezuela.

Centre for Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration:
Venezuela launched the construction of a comprehensive care centre for the homeless, with resources derived from the Alba-Caribe Fund. This centre, which by the decision of the Government of Guyana is located at Onverwagt in Region 5, West Coast Berbice, has the objectives of providing comprehensive social assistance to the homeless and facilitating their integration to  productive living in the agricultural sector.
This project includes dormitories, recreational areas, study rooms, a library, dining room, medical services and social orientation, and will serve 300 persons.
Other bilateral agreements include:the Venezuela/Guyana Mixed Commission on Drugs;the Memorandum of Understanding for creation of the Committee for the Prevention, Investigation and Solution of Fishing Incidents; Cold Chain for Non-Traditional and Dairy Sectors; Joint Venture PDV-CARIBE-Guyana Memorandum of Understanding for the Commercialisation of 4000 MT of Pearl Urea yearly; Supply of jet A1 fuel to Guyana; a Gas pipeline from Venezuela to Guyana and Suriname; and High Level Bi-national Commission (COBAN).
For more information on these bilateral agreements, visit the Venezuelan Embassy in Guyana’s Official site at http:// Guyana.embajada.gob.ve/.

Personal observations
During his stay, the ambassador visited the different regions in Guyana, and explored   the Essequibo River, Berbice and Linden among other places.
Ambassador Morandy said he loved working in Guyana. He called Guyana an interesting country with beautiful people and interesting culture. The Ambassador noted that he is a Sociologist, although a diplomat; and the way the Amerindian, East Indian, African, Chinese and European mixed made for interesting sociological observation.

Future Plans
Upon his return home, he intends to work in President Chavez’s presidential campaign, to help the president be re-elected come October 7. He said: “It is the most important presidential campaign in 12 years, as we [Venezuelans] need to define the destiny of our country. We are living in a time of change, and Venezuela is leading that change.”