I NOTE with some alarm the media handling of this border matter with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

As Independence was in the offing in 1962, Venezuela raised at the United Nations this ridiculous claim to a substantial part of Guyana. The Venezuelans provided not a bit of evidence to support their claim. Four months before our Independence date, there was an agreement for them to provide any new documents to support their claim.

The truth is that our western neighbour pulled out of its century-old hat a rabbit claiming much of our inheritance.
From then until now, all of us who are true patriots do not regard this as a ‘dispute’.

For me, and I believe every patriot, it is no more than a spurious and provocative claim by Venezuelan leaders. We reject this claim – end of the story.
Dave Martin put it succinctly and sweetly: “Not a blade of grass – not one curass – not one blue sackie – not one rice grain,” etc.

The total area of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana is 83,000 square miles or 214.979 square km. End of story.

Frankly, there is nothing to discuss with Venezuela, except for the niceties of diplomacy.
Eighty-three thousand square miles of bush, rivers, mountains, crapaud, lemon grass, daisy, genip tree, bundarie crab, hassar, Indigenous peoples, Africans, Indians, Chinese, Madeirans, Portuguese, Europeans, Dougla, buffianas and whose mixture defy description. All “belong to we” and all of us are Guyanese.

As a parting salvo: To the pusillanimous and those fascinated by the glitter of black gold (oil money), let them know that first, we will soon be producing oil; but second and more importantly, our Dear Green Land of Guyana is not up for sale. Amen.

I beg the media and citizens to stop talking and thinking about a dispute. There is no dispute; only a ridiculous claim by a neighbour, which we reject.

HAMILTON GREEN, OR., JP