-Tourism Minister says
MAINTAINING that Guyana will continue to be a zone of peace, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, recently said Venezuela’s December 3 referendum on Guyana’s Essequibo region, is proof of the Nicolas Maduro administration’s “failure” to their people.
In an interview with Calistra Farrier on Grenada’s WPG10, the Minister stressed that Guyana will not succumb to the aggressiveness emanating from the Spanish-speaking country.
The senior Guyanese government official firmly stated: “We also believe that this is a political move by the [Venezuelan] government who have shown that they’re a failure domestically and [they] are using this to galvanize their base and to bully a smaller nation.”
With Guyana upholding international law, she stated that the nation is receiving massive support from its regional and international partners during this time.
“We will use our international allies to protect our territorial integrity and we [have] gotten this assurance… Of course, we want a peaceful resolution and we are pursuing a peaceful resolution,” the minister said, while emphasising that Guyana will not sit by and allow Venezuela to act on their false claims.
Moreover, she highlighted that there will be high-level meetings and presence from the ending of November and throughout December from the United States’ Department of Defence.
“Our position is that we are on the right side of the law,” Walrond said, while adding: “We are quite prepared along with our allies to protect our borders if the need so arises.”
She then went on to speak about whether the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is throwing its full support towards Guyana, a topic that has been circulating recently.
The minister stated that without any doubt, CARICOM has denounced Venezuela’s false claims on the Guyana’s Essequibo region and has supported Guyana during these times.
She then firmly stated that her government is continuously reassuring the Guyanese people that they will fight for what is theirs.
“We continue to fight and safeguard the interest of all our citizens, including those in Essequibo,” the minister stated.
She also highlighted that the country is united on this matter, including the opposition and the government.
The genesis of the controversy goes back to the 1899 Arbitral Award, a landmark decision that delineated the land boundary between British Guiana (now Guyana) and Venezuela. However, despite the historic arbitration, tensions have persisted, with Venezuela repeatedly challenging the validity of the award.
The matter is currently engaging the attention of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
