THE Guyanese fishermen who have been detained in Venezuela are running low on groceries and are worried that they might not have anything to eat come Monday, according to the owner of the Sea Wolf, one of the detained vessels, Kumar Lalbachan.

The 12 fishermen, who were operating their trade along the Waini River in two groups of six on the Lady Nayera and Sea Wolf vessels, were apprehended by Venezuelan naval troops last week. They have since been illegally detained, pending an investigation.

This act of ‘intrusion’ by Venezuela was condemned by local authorities, which have substantiated claims that both vessels, which were operating off the coast of the Waini Point, within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), were intercepted by Venezuelan naval vessel, Commandante Hugo Chavez GC 24, on Thursday, January 21, 2021.

On Friday, when the Guyana Chronicle spoke to Lalbachan, he said that he has been in constant contact with the Sea Wolf’s Captain Toney Garraway via Whatsapp. While the men have reported that they are doing well aboard the vessel, Garraway was concerned that the food supplies of his crew were running low and could be depleted by Monday.

Lalbachan noted that he would work along with owner of the Lady Nayera, Trevor Daniels in order to find a way of providing some support to the crew of the two vessels. This, he indicated, may prove challenging given that the men are detained aboard the vessels, but he is hopeful that some assistance may find its way to the crew.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, in an invited comment, said that his ministry would contact the owners and the captains to see what assistance could be provided to the 12 Guyanese.

“In instances like this, the owner would need to take care of some of the expenses, but because of the nature of the matter, we can provide some assistance,” Todd told the Guyana Chronicle, emphasising: “It is our interest to take care of them.”

He also related that the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Jorge Arreaza, assured that the needs of the men would be catered to while they are detained. On Wednesday, the delegation of Panama to the Organisation of American States (OAS) firmly called for the welfare of the detained Guyanese to be ensured. Several other OAS members, including Panama, the United States, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago, and the OAS General Secretariat itself called for the immediate release of the Guyanese fishermen.

The crew members of the Sea Wolf included Garraway, Errol Gardener, Orland Roberts, Christopher Shaw, Shirvin Oneil and Randy Henry while the crew members aboard the Lady Nayera were Ramnarine, Ramlakan Kamal, Nick Raghubar, Javin Boston, Michael Domingo and Joel Joseph.

The Government of Guyana is pursuing all diplomatic avenues to ensure that these men are returned home safely and as soon as possible.

THIRD VESSEL

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has been apprised of unconfirmed reported indicating that another Guyana-registered fishing vessel, ‘Miss Annie’ – GR972360 – and its seven-member crew were detained by the Venezuelan military on Monday.

According to an unconfirmed report published in a Venezuelan newspaper, Miss Annie was allegedly fishing illegally in Venezuelan authorities. This has not been confirmed nor substantiated as yet. To confirm these reports, Minister Todd noted that Guyana’s embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, made contact with the Foreign Ministry in that country. No response has been garnered as yet, however.

The Government of Guyana has considered the illegal detention of the Guyanese fishermen as a wanton show of aggression by the Venezuelan armed forces against Guyana and Guyanese citizens. It follows on the heels of a recent unilateral decree by President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, claiming Venezuela’s sovereignty and exclusive sovereign rights in the waters and seabed adjacent to Guyana’s coast, west of the Essequibo River.

Currently, Guyana is seeking a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between the then British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid, and that the Essequibo region belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.

In December, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy case and the World Court is preparing to hear the arguments in the substantive matter.