–boat captain to meet with local authorities on possible delivery of supplies

WITH supplies running low aboard the Lady Nayera and the Sea Wolf, which are both detained in Venezuela, the 12-member crew is yet to ascertain from authorities there whether food, water and other necessities will be provided to them.
The fishermen have been in the custody of Venezuelan authorities for a little under two weeks, so it is only expected that food and other supplies would run low, since a fishing exercise usually lasts for about 20 days, and they were already 15 days into the trip prior to being captured.
It was reported that Venezuelan naval troops entered Guyana’s territory and apprehended the two vessels, which are both owned and operated by Guyanese, on January 21, 2021.
According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Captain Richard Ramnarine, of the Lady Nayera, and Captain Toney Garraway, of the Sea Wolf, after being apprehended in the Waini area, were instructed to chart a course to Port Güiria in Venezuela, where both vessels, which are registered in Essequibo, and the 12-member crew, who hail from Essequibo, have been detained.

The crew members of the Sea Wolf include Garraway, Errol Gardener, Orland Roberts, Christopher Shaw, Shirvin Oneil and Randy Henry; the crew members aboard the Lady Nayera are Ramnarine, Ramlakan Kamal, Nick Raghubar, Javin Boston, Michael Domingo and Joel Joseph.
From all indications, none of the crew members has been harmed, but with supplies running low, the fishermen will have to start enquiring about where their next meal is coming from. The owner of the Sea Wolf vessel, Kumar Lalbachan, told the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday that Venezuela has not been supplying the fishermen with any food or water.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, had assured Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, during a virtual meeting on January 25 that the crew members were being treated with utmost respect for their human rights. On the same day, the 12-member crew appeared in a Venezuelan court, where they were informed that they will be held for 45 days on their boats, pending an investigation.

But, with the provision of supplies by Venezuela still uncertain at this time, Lalbachan and other stakeholders have decided to mobilise ration for the fishermen.
“We want to make some contact to get some supplies for them,” Lalbachan said.
While organising the supplies is not expected to be difficult, transporting it will not be so straightforward. It is unclear whether formal travel between Guyana and Venezuela has halted, but, with the pervasive novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, boat owners have unavoidably reduced their trips.
In the absence of many alternatives, the boat owner’s plan is to approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to discuss possible solutions. The Government of Guyana has since considered the capture of its citizens by Venezuela as a wanton show of aggression by the Venezuelan armed forces against Guyana and Guyanese citizens.
“This Venezuelan action amounts to an interference with the sovereign rights of Guyana in its EEZ, contrary to international law,” the Foreign Ministry said in a previous statement.
What is more disturbing, is that this act comes on the heels of the issuance of a 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.

Based on reports emanating from Venezuela, the decree points to the creation of a strategic zone for national development, called the “Territory for the Development of the Atlantic Façade”, which the Bolivarian Republic envisages will provide it adequate protection, and safeguard its jurisdiction. However, since Guyana has sovereign rights over the coast west of the Essequibo River, as far as Punta Playa, it follows, consequently, that only Guyana can enjoy sovereignty and exclusive sovereign rights over the adjacent sea and seabed.
“I remind that sovereignty over this coast and the land territory to which it is attached, were awarded to Guyana (then British Guiana) in the 1899 Arbitral Award, whose validity and legally binding character Guyana is confident the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will uphold unequivocally,” President Dr. Irfaan Ali affirmed during a recent address to the nation.
He said that, regrettably, by decreeing that the seas adjacent to this territory belong to Venezuela, at least two fundamental principles of international law have been violated.
It was reported that a peaceful conclusion to its border controversy with Venezuela remains Guyana’s aim, but with the opposing state insisting on aggression, Dr. Ali, has affirmed that his nation will not cower in the face of threats against national security.

“As President of our beloved country, my single most important responsibility is to keep the Guyanese people safe. It is the first thing I think about when I wake [up] in the morning. It is the last thing on my mind at night. And my working day is consumed by it.
“But, I want no mistake about it: my government is doing all in its power to vigorously protect our people’s health and our country’s territorial integrity. Just as we will not relent in the battle against COVID-19, so will we not bend to threats to our national security…we may be a small country, but we are a proud people. We have no military might, but we have moral and legal right. We pick fights with no one, but we will resist threats from anyone,” President Ali said during a passionate address to the nation on Saturday at State House.
In resisting threats, Guyana, the President said, will seek the protection of international law and the support of the international community.

The ongoing Guyana-Venezuela border controversy relates to a more than century-old disagreement, which arose as a result of Venezuela’s contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899, which outlines and settles the boundary between the two nations, was null and void.
In March 2018, Guyana filed its application in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking an affirmation of the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the international boundary that it established. The ICJ ruled on December 18, 2020, that it has jurisdiction to hear the border controversy case.
Guyana is seeking to obtain a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid, and that the Essequibo region belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.