No 66 Fishermen’s Co-op calls for release of Guyanese detained by Venezuela

The Number 66 Fishermen’s Co-op Society has joined mounting calls for Venezuelan authorities to immediately release the 12 Guyanese crew members and two vessels which were illegally detained by the Spanish-speaking country last week.
Chairman of the Number 66 Fishermen’s Co-op Society, Pamashwar Jainarine said on Friday that the actions by Venezuelan authorities are disturbing.

He contended that the twelve fishermen aboard the Lady Nayera and Sea Wolf vessels were operating off the coast of Waini Point, within Guyana’s exclusive economic zone.
The Guyanese fishermen and vessels were illegally detained by Venezuela on January 21, 2021. It has been more than a week, and the men have not been released.
While Venezuela is claiming that the men were in its waters, Jainarine said that the actions by Venezuelan authorities are outside of the accepted normal practice for fishermen said to be plying their trade without the relevant licences.
The Co-op, as a body, he added, condemns the outrageous act by the Venezuelans and calls for the release of the fishermen as early as possible.
“We are hearing that 45 days from now, then they will be on trial, that is not fair. For one, the fishers were within their right; they had the required licences to fish in Guyana waters. If they were charged, they should be put on bail, they should not be in custody for 45 days,” Jainarine argued.
His comments come on the heels of mounting pressure from the international community for Venezuela to respect Guyana’s sovereignty and release the illegally detained fishermen.
“We here at the Number 66 Co-op, actually fish on a border with Suriname and there are sometimes cases that our vessels are not properly licensed or sometimes the licences expired and the Suriname authorities would hold them. But, these matters are resolved by paying a fine or something of that nature and the boats are released… It is a simple fishing incident, if Venezuela claims that you are fishing in their waters there should be a penalty; if it is a fine, they should fine them and release them.”
Maintaining that the fishermen were in Guyanese territory when they were detained by the Venezuelans, Jainarine pointed out that the fishing vessels should be equipped with devices that can attest to the exact location of the boats at the time of the interception.
“If the vessel had a VMS or vessel monitoring device, it would have been able to pinpoint the location of the vessel. That is something that we have been pushing for to ensure that all vessels are equipped with these types of equipment to avoid incidents like this.”
There are reports that a third local vessel with Guyanese onboard was seized by Venezuela. Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd had told the media on Thursday that the Government is investigating those reports.
The ABC countries – that is the USA, the United Kingdom, and Canada – have all called on Venezuela to release the Guyanese.
The Caribbean Community and the Organisation of American States have also thrown their support behind Guyana. (G4)