PM Phillips, Ministers, MPs warned Maduro regime of grave consequences if it attempts to annex Essequibo

Dear Editor,
Most if not all Guyana should be mindful of the fact that a remarkable feat took place on Monday, November 6, 2023, when the Government and the Opposition parties joined together in a show of unity and strength to defend and preserve Guyana’s border at an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly. On this day, every sitting Member of Parliament from both sides of the isle including the Leader of the Opposition Mr Norton, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Hugh Todd have vehemently condemned the recent actions by the Maduro regime for its threats to use force to unilateral annex the Essequibo region which is approximately 73 per cent of Guyana’s territory. This type of unity has not been seen or witnessed in the country in decades.
Following the debate, the MPs unanimously and vigorously approved a parliamentary motion rejecting the planned Venezuelan referendum scheduled for December 3rd that seeks to annex Essequibo. The debate was led by the capable and effective leader of the House for Government business, Prime Minister Mark Phillips who in a gut-wrenching speech in the presence of members of the diplomatic corps, senior public servants, and schoolchildren emphatically declared that in the face of incessant and baseless threats from Venezuela, the people and Government of Guyana have remained resilient and assertive and will not succumb to the tyranny and intimidatory tactics of Caracas.
The Former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips passionately and unforgivingly reiterated what President Dr Irfaan Ali has on several occasions profoundly told members of the international community that the time for negotiation is over, there will be no need for dialogue with President Nicolas Maduro and absolutely no meeting between the irrational tyrant and himself.
While the President was firm, committed and vowed to defend Guyana’s territory, PM Phillips candidly told the National Assembly that Essequibo is not Bird Island which Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica ceded to Venezuela a decade ago, or Patos Island which Trinidad and Tobago surrendered to Venezuela. As a patriot and proud and loyal Guyanese, the Prime Minister resolutely said there would be no concessions, no invasion, annexation, or any other acts of aggression by Venezuela. He distinctly reaffirmed the validity of the 124-year-old 1899 Arbitral Award which settled the border dispute, established a “full, perfect and final” settlement of the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, and confirmed that Essequibo is part of Guyana’s territory.
Like His Excellency, the leader of the House for Government business is steadfast in his quest to have the dispute settled through peaceful and legal means before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Echoing President Dr Ali, Prime Minister Phillips avowed that every square inch of Guyana belongs to Guyanese, and the nation will not yield any territory to Venezuela, despite the recent threats from Caracas to use force to annex Essequibo. He said the Government remained committed to the legal process to resolve the border controversy to secure and protect the nation’s sovereignty.
PM Phillips further told the House that the Maduro regime’s malicious claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory is flawed and without any merit and its plans to hold a referendum on Guyana’s Essequibo on December 3, 2023, is groundless and it will not deter the will of the people to defend Guyana which has sought the intervention of the World Court at a hearing scheduled for December 14 and 15, while an impending case on the border controversy itself is still ongoing in the ICJ.
The former Army Chief joined several of his colleagues and MPs in the House to forewarn President Maduro that Guyana’s stance on the border controversy is non-negotiable and this is a fundamental right that Venezuela must respect because there would be grave consequences on his regime if it attempts to annex the Essequibo region. Maintaining that Essequibo belongs to Guyana, the Prime Minister said that every square inch of the country means everything to its people, whose ancestors comprise of Indigenous, Africans, East Indians, Portuguese, Europeans and Chinese who have made the former colony their home.

Respectfully,
Dr Asquith Rose