President Ali affirms; says country is doing everything that needs to be done to remain in a state of preparedness
By Shamar Meusa
PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Thursday, said that the Government of Guyana is taking nothing for granted in relation to the ongoing Venezuela-Guyana border controversy.
Dr. Ali, during an engagement with residents of Mabaruma, Region One, said that everything that is required is being done and the country remains in a state of preparedness.
The Head of State was accompanied on his visit by Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Omar Khan and National Security Advisor, Captain Gerry Gouveia, among others.
While addressing the residents, Dr. Ali said that there is a lot of tension based on the rhetoric coming out of Venezuela and the attitude of the Venezuelan authorities leading up to their December 3 referendum.
“Now, we are not in any way shape or form taking anything for granted so everything that is required of us as a people, as a government, as a military, we are in a state of preparedness,” he affirmed.
Notwithstanding this, Dr Ali said that the government does not expect Venezuela to act in a reckless way and assured Guyanese that Guyana’s position remains that the matter must be settled peacefully at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Commander-in-Chief said that all systems are being put in place, including monitoring systems, and there are a lot of partners working with Guyana on this front.
Guyana is adding to its strength based on the situational analysis and as it is now, the GDF has done its analysis and what is required is being put in place based on that analysis.
While he indicated that they do not want any overreaction or overreach, Dr. Ali assured Guyanese that behind the scenes, in addition to men and women on the ground, there is a lot more work that is going on and as the situation unfolds and analyses continue, they will determine what strength and what level of physical presence is needed.
“But we are sparing no effort; everything that is needed we are making available but we don’t want to sound alarm bells, as I said we are not taking anything for granted because we are listening carefully to the rhetoric that is coming out of Venezuela,” the Head of State said.
He went on to add that Guyana has stepped up its monitoring systems significantly and is currently paying close attention to what is taking place at the border.
Meanwhile, President Ali said that they want the population to be assured of what is being done and assured that Guyana’s partners are solidly behind the country. Further, he said that a series of activities will be seen that will demonstrate how solid these relationships are.
The government, Dr. Ali said, has been engaging many leaders internationally and, in the region, and they have all once again strongly condemned any action or behaviour by Venezuela that leads to recklessness.
In 2018, Guyana took a decisive step by approaching the ICJ, seeking affirmation of the legitimacy of the 1899 Arbitral Award.
Venezuela, taking a defiant stance, initially claimed the ICJ lacked jurisdiction, a contention flatly rejected by the international court in a crucial ruling in December 2020. The door was thus opened for the ICJ to delve into the merit of the substantive case.
Even as this substantive case remains before the court, Guyana contends that the recent announcement of a referendum by Venezuela is a thinly veiled attempt by the Bolivarian Republic to gather support for abandoning the ongoing ICJ proceedings, and unilaterally assert control over the Essequibo region.
In response, Guyana swiftly approached the ICJ seeking urgent provisional measures to prevent any action by Venezuela that could jeopardise the status quo until the court reaches a final verdict on the matter.
The ICJ is expected to rule soon on Guyana’s request for provisional measures to prevent Venezuela from proceeding with its planned referendum on the Essequibo. Meanwhile, the substantive case, highlighting the historical context and the 1899 Arbitral Award, remains before the court.
Giving the residents of Mabaruma some clarity, he indicated that Guyana did not approach the ICJ to stop Venezuela’s referendum as any country can do referendums as it is internal business. However, when questions in the referendum can affect Guyana and its territory, then precautionary measures must be sought and that is what Guyana approached the court for.
Based on the case presented, Dr Ali said that the government remains confident that the court will issue those precautionary measures and if Venezuela acts outside of those measures, then they will be acting recklessly and outside of international law.
Against this backdrop, he added: “The world would not, our partners would not sit by and see them acting outside of international law. So, we have all of this on our side, international law on our side, democracy on our side, we have peace on our side and we have our neighbours.”
Over the coming days, weeks and months, President Ali said that Guyanese will see major collaborations with Guyana’s international partners as the country is currently strengthening the defence cooperation and collaboration.
