Dear Editor
THE RK’s Group and family and most Guyanese, as far as I know, welcome the United Nations Secretary- General (UNSG)’s decision to direct the border controversy involving neighbouring Venezuela to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after ongoing failed Good Offices talks to resolve the issue.

Three years ago, the Granger administration announced the most welcome decision that it wanted to abandon the Good Offices option in favour of the intervention of the ICJ to settle this controversy, which has been simmering for about 51 years. During those 51 years, Venezuela’s claim to a portion of Guyana has even expanded.

They have even hijacked the Ankoko island and we have been too quiet about it. The Good Offices process had been ongoing since 1990 and former UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon had directed that it should continue until the end of 2017, but during that time there has been no meaningful progress in the bilateral talks.

Sir Ronald Sanders said that the move to the ICJ should be viewed as constructive and helpful, because it enables adjudication in a “structured and legal” framework. We concur. Notably, Venezuela rejected the referral to the ICJ and prefers the non-productive Good Offices process, even though last year’s talks made little headway.

Venezuela has no valid case; therefore, they can only try to get a vast portion of our resource-rich lands by thievery and brute force. To me, it is quite clear why they are pressing us to continue the failed Good Offices process. They know we will reject it, but they intend to use our rejection of that fruitless process as the basis for strong-armed tactics they plan to use in the future.

It is noteworthy that the UNSG, while admitting that the Good Offices process did not make much progress last year, nevertheless feels that Venezuela and Guyana could still benefit from the talks. How is this possible considering that the Good Offices process has been failing since 1990?

Ambassador Odeen Ishmael suggested that the UNSG might be trying to appease the Venezuelan Government, which, by the way has reserved the right to not accept the ICJ’s decision if it is considered unfavourable. RK’s Group supports government’s bold decision to abandon the Good Offices process, unlike previous governments which I believe were going along with the process simply because they wanted to benefit from Venezuela’s cheap oil and other support.

Those previous governments’ decisions to accept Venezuela’s largesse while that nation was committed to stealing Guyana’s most resource-rich area are bound to come back to haunt them. The border controversy was a festering sore disguised by a band-aid and sweet-smelling lotion.

It was inevitable that one day the band-aid would be removed and the sore would be exposed. Now, the chickens have come home to roost and we face the painful reality that we have to pay a hefty price for all the freebies we received from Venezuela in the past.

The only reasonable plan of action for the government to take is to move quickly and decisively to resolve this matter now — once and for all. The current administration must use every ounce of influence it has in every regional and international forum to expose Venezuela’s shameful and baseless rejection of the UNSG’s attempt to have the matter resolved at the ICJ.

Guyana has to ensure that Venezuela’s totally unfounded claim is subjected to worldwide scrutiny, which would force that nation to think twice about the possibility of global condemnation before making any further expansionist moves. We compliment President Granger for this bold stand; it is time to take the fight to the next level.

Regards
Roshan Khan