Dear Editor,
Gregory Quinn, former British High Commissioner to Guyana, who was here at the time President Granger’s government was attempting to return to office at the 2020 General and Regional Elections by using fraud, in an article written in a series of booklets published by John Mair titled Oil Dorado, and republished in the Stabroek News last Tuesday (24th September 2024) under the headline “Why Guyana should not appease Venezuela and Maduro”, has traced the history of Maduro’s most recent attempt to annex the Essequibo, and has expressed his concern that some in Caricom are advocates to appeasing Maduro, most particularly Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.
I worked closely with Greg Quinn, former US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, former Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee, and former European Union Ambassador Fernando Ponz-Canto, along with Captain Gerry Gouveia and other members of the Private Sector Commission, to expose and oppose the APNU/AFC’s determination to rig the results of the vote in Region Four.
Referring to the Declaration of Argyle, which resulted from the meeting between Presidents Ali and Nicolas Maduro that was hosted by Gonsalves, promoted by Lula of Brazil, and encouraged by other Caricom leaders, Quinn writes that he understands “some think it was a good thing, but appeasing dictators never worked out well and, I must admit, I don’t see what has been the benefit of this particular declaration for Guyana”.
I do not agree with Quinn in this regard. There is no doubt in my mind that The Declaration of Peace and Dialogue of Argyle on 14th December 2023, agreeing “that any controversy between the two States will be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement of 1966”, definitively postponed the possibility of an imminent invasion of the Essequibo by Venezuela.
Let me underline the fact that President Ali did not go to St Vincent to negotiate with Maduro on the border controversy, and Argyle is not a product of any such negotiations, nor does it commit in any way to doing so.
What is of significant note is that, shortly after Argyle, the Inter-American Institute for Democracy, on 4th January, 2024, published an article written by Dr. Luis Fleischman, urging that “if Maduro rejects diplomacy and invades Guyana, the United States should mobilize its armed forces and send a message to the Venezuelan military that it intends to intervene, and for their safety, officers and soldiers must surrender before it is too late. Military action should follow if they do not, particularly from the air. In both scenarios, the result should be the removal of the Maduro regime and the restoration of constitutional government in Venezuela”.
Greg Quinn is, of course, correct in warning that appeasement of any kind simply doesn’t work with dictators like Maduro, though I don’t agree with him entirely that the Argyle Declaration has been of no benefit for Guyana. It did, in my opinion, serve to successfully postpone the probability of a Venezuelan invasion at the time.
The Stabroek News, in a comprehensive and informative editorial today (September 27, 2024) explained the connection between the Geneva Agreement and the Argyle Declaration in deferring an invasion, and the importance of Argyle having been promoted by President Lula da Silva of Brazil. As the Stabroek News editorial points out, “If Mr. Gonsalves and company delivered President Ali to the table – and the truth of the matter is he had little choice but to go, given the diplomatic pressure he was under – it was Brazil which brought the Venezuelan Head of State there”.
A great disappointment for me was the role played by Ralph Gonsalves, which he continues to pursue without apology. Gonsalves says he is a friend of Guyana, and that he is a friend of our President. Perhaps he is, though he is yet to publicly recognize that the Essequibo is part of Guyana. I considered Ralph a friend of mine. He was a guest at my 91st birthday party in the company of President Ali, but his embracing Maduro and congratulating him on assuming power, claiming that the Venezuelan elections “were free and fair, reflecting the result”, when the rest of the democratic world knows differently, is unacceptable.
Gonsalves has chosen to ignore, for instance, the report of a UN panel of electoral experts invited by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) to report on the elections process to the United Nations Secretary General, that the “process of the CNE fell short of the basic transparency and integrity measures that are essential to holding credible elections…in the experience of the Panel, the announcement of an election outcome without the publication of its details or the release of tabulated results to candidates has no precedent in contemporary democratic elections”.
Gonsalves knows he is lying. Friend or no friend, he should hang his head in shame.
The St Vincent Prime Minister came to Guyana as a longstanding friend of Sonny Ramphal, to pay his respects and honour him with a magnificent speech at his funeral; but he does no honour to Ramphal, who gave much of his life to fighting for freedom and democracy around the world, by recognizing Maduro as legitimately elected.
Ralph Gonsalves made matters worse while speaking to the media here in Guyana when he recommended that Maduro is a better choice for Guyana than the opposition in Venezuela. He seems to have forgotten that Maria Corina Machado had declared her party’s support for having the matter addressed at the ICJ.
Gonsalves went on to say, “We have an Argyle Declaration, and any time, if Venezuela attempts to do anything militarily, you’ll hear that I speak against it”. That’s nice, and I am sure that he means it, but his words would ring hollow if it were to happen.
In fact, Maduro has already violated many of the commitments of Argyle. As Greg Quinn asks, “Why should anyone believe a word Maduro says or promises he makes?” and as Quinn goes on to offer his advice to President Ali: “Guyana needs to stand firm and ensure those who support it are clear in that support. It should give no sustenance to Venezuela by continuing fruitless discussions over things which are non-negotiable…time for trying to appease Venezuela has long past”.
And so said, so done.
President Ali made no bones about it when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly. He reminded the world leaders gathered there in New York that “Guyana is a small state that has had to contend with aggression from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for all 58 years of our nationhood”, and emphasized the fact that “international law and its strict application have been our armour and our shield in our determination to protect ourselves from this aggression”.
He reaffirmed “Guyana’s unwavering commitment to a peaceful resolution of this longstanding controversy in full conformity with international law and the principles set forth in the United Nations Charter”, and further reminded them that “this controversy, initiated by Venezuela, was submitted by Guyana to the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the decision of the United Nations Secretary General and consistent with our position to settle this matter by legal and peaceful means”.
We can only hope that our friend and Caribbean colleague Ralph Gonsalves, who has led the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with some distinction over many years, comes to his senses where Maduro and his ugly threat to Guyana, and indeed peace in our region, is concerned. He would not then find a need to assure us of his friendship; we would take it for granted.
Yours sincerely,
Kit Nascimento
