– Jagdeo says, urges more Guyanese to be vocal on the controversy

GUYANESE are being urged to be more vocal, speaking up and out against Venezuela’s tyrant narratives and claims over the country’s Essequibo region.

At his weekly press conference on Thursday, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/) the governing political body in the country, said more patriotic displays from the citizenry are needed amid the increasing claims being made by the Bolivarian Republic.

“I hope that Guyanese would go online and comment on these issues when they see them. They have a slew of people in Venezuela who do that all the time…but we need to do much more from our side, particularly at the level of the population, not just as the government or opposition because we are working together on this issue but at the level of the citizenry to point out these misleading things when statements are made. We need to expose them as being lies and fictions,” the Guyanese politician said.

For decades, Venezuela has made unjust claims to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory despite the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established a “full, perfect and final” settlement of the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

Responding to several statements made, not only by the Venezuelan politicians, but also some of its populace, Dr. Jagdeo said: “It’s a lot of fiction that comes out of Venezuela.”
Guyana, he further maintained, has always supported and respected the rule of international law.

“Our position is quite clear on what we are hoping to achieve and the process through what we are hoping to achieve. We do now need to do much more work to ensure that their fiction doesn’t get repeated.”

REFERENDUM

In its most recent attempt to thwart the rule of law, the Nicolás Maduro government plans to put forward a referendum on Guyana’s Essequibo.

However, the Guyana Government has sought the intervention of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A hearing into this matter is set for next week, while an impending case on the border controversy itself is still ongoing at the court.

Speaking on the upcoming case, Guyana’s Adviser on Borders and Agent in the Venezuelan Border Case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Carl Greenidge, on Monday, explained that the Bolivarian state’s most recent attempt to assert claims over Guyana’s territory is to have its electorate pronounce on matters of treaties, the work of the courts and the well-being of Guyanese.

The upcoming hearing is to ensure this does not happen.

“The court is being asked not so much to stop them having a referendum, but to ensure they know, and to ensure that the referendum doesn’t have provisions which give the Venezuelan public the mistaken belief that they have the right to decide on other citizens’ fate, citizens outside of the borders of Venezuela, in defiance of world opinion, in defiance of world practice, and in defiance of the obligations that Venezuela as a signatory to an agreement that still exists,” Greenidge explained.

The referendum, he said, is problematic and disregards international law: “The referendum, as is usual with these things, is part of a scenario. In other words, maybe if it was the referendum alone it would be bad enough. But if you look at what has been happening over the past few months, you will find the referendum is one of many things that we are concerned about. ”

Earlier this week lawmakers from both the government and the opposition joined in a united front to pass a historic Motion to reinforce Guyana’s position on the border controversy.

Politicians, from both sides of the National Assembly, spoke at length about the controversy, maintaining Guyana’s stance in support of international law, while delving into the history of the original settlement that was made between the two nations and presenting facts to support Guyana’s ownership of the Essequibo region.