BEHIND the government–opposition co-operation on border issues there seems to be a lot of hysteria surrounding the presence of Venezuelans in Guyana.
Given all the history between the two nations, it is rational and sensible to be cautious, measured and strategic when it comes to managing the influx of Venezuelan migrants. However, there are stories making the rounds about some people who are going overboard with xenophobia, in this case, ‘Venophobia.’

It can’t be stressed enough that we should treat every person with dignity. The Venezuelans coming here are people with grave vulnerabilities, and we are not without legal remedies if they break the law.
That said, this past week I’ve heard a lot of hogwash regarding how to deal with Venezuelans residing in Guyana, but none quite as elaborate as the confounded parochialism coming from Ramjattan and the AFC.

For those who missed it, let me give you a brief background before delving into AFCs delirium. As is common around the world, citizens from bordering countries facing greater economic or ethnocultural pressures will skip across their borders to seek betterment.
In the north, a great number of Americans are settling in Canada to take advantage of cheaper and better healthcare. Mexicans are moving to America for all-round economic betterment. On the Asian continent, ethnic Rohingyas are fleeing ethnocultural pressures from Myanmar into Bangladesh, North Koreans cross the Amnok River into Dandong China for jobs.

In the past, when economic pressures were higher in Guyana than among its neighbours, Guyanese, by the thousands, skipped into Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname. These days, the economic and political pressures are pitch high in Venezuela, it is therefore only natural for Venezuelans to seek better living situations prevailing in Guyana.

Among those who are headed to Guyana are Guyanese by birth who moved to Venezuela when things were better there. Accompanying many returning Guyanese are their spouses and children. Under the Guyanese constitution, all spouses and children of Guyanese born abroad are entitled to be citizens of Guyana, which by default makes it applicable to grandchildren and their spouses.

This means, such persons are entitled to a passport, registration for a national ID card and all the constitutional rights and privileges of Guyanese citizenship, including voting. In comes Ramjattan and the Dippy Gang advocating for the suspension of the constitutional rights of bonafide Guyanese Citizens.

Ramjattan is reported as saying: “All Venezuelans granted citizenship, in view of the severely strained relationship we have now with Venezuela, not be allowed to be on the voters’ roll.” I will go ahead and assume that at the time of reading a prepared statement Ramjattan was in a trance.

One would hope that Ramjattan comes to his senses and foreswears this statement, it has the potential of raising the spectra of election time “Venophobia.” Some will believe that all people with Spanish accents have no voting rights in Guyana and may resort to all sorts of discriminatory actions with the potential to turn violent.

The AFC wants a “transparent process” where the party can verify all the registrants. I think the AFC is forgetting one detail. The registration process already has legal provision for there to be opposition scrutineers during the continuous registration process.
AFC is working against its own interest. It claimed it knows that the PPP/C is busy registering Venezuelans, but from all inquiries, the AFC has not provided a single scrutineer to accompany GECOM staff to verify the registrations.

If it did, it would’ve been able to examine all source documents used to make a claim to go on the list. Further, AFC has the option of making objections to any name wrongfully or illegally included. It is, therefore, nothing short of crass political laziness and Trumpish fearmongering of the electoral process, long before the elections are held.

Instead of utilising the apparatus provided for in law, the AFC choses to squat in its political outhouse and coerce the government to fabricate an extra-legal backdoor process to provide information the AFC could obtain for itself, at the source. News flash for the AFC, electoral politics is not an armchair process.

The AFC also wants the registration of those already eligible for citizenship to be suspended until after the ICJ has made its final ruling. Further, they expressed fear that there could be a Venezuelan party winning seats in the house and turn Guyana over to Venezuela.

For the benefit of the AFC, please allow me to hark back to a suggestion I made in last week’s column. Propose a legislation to end dual citizenship between Venezuela and Guyana. Single nation allegiance as a condition of citizenship should not violate the constitution.