Venezuela border controversy: AFC reaffirms support in unified national approach taken by Govt, Opposition

The Alliance For Change (AFC) on Friday reiterated its unwavering support for the unified national approach being taken by Government of Guyana and the Opposition political parties with regards the Venezuela border controversy.
This was echoed during a press conference hosted by the party on Friday at its headquarters during which it reaffirmed its support to the process embarked upon by the International Court of Justice including the submissions made by the Guyanese team regarding the inflammatory content in a referendum Venezuela intends to hold on December 3, 2023.
On the other hand, the party raised concerns on the issue regarding the PPP Government’s handling of the illegal influx of Venezuelans into Guyana’s territory which poses a severe existential threat to all Guyana.
“Confirmed reports highlight a recent unexplained and definite increase in Venezuelans arriving undocumented in boats, jumping of out of busses after being taken into Police custody while at the same time an aggressive international campaign is in motion. The Venezuelan Vice President’s very vocal pronouncements have informed us of their deliberate strategy to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region. No mincing of their words there and to all this, our Government’s response has been nothing less than lukewarm,” the AFC stated.
In fact, the party stated that during a recent outreach to several communities, citizens also raised concerns about what is likely to occur post-December 3, and are alarmed at the total lack of engagement by the PPP Government on the ground, especially in the Essequibo region.
The AFC noted that this has given life to the suggestions that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP systematically have allowed Venezuelans into Guyana without the requisite stringent registration processes and monitoring.
“It must be noted again that the PPP’s approach to Venezuelan migrants is vastly different to the treatment meted out to our Haitian brothers and sisters who based on membership are granted free movement within Caricom, but who were forcibly removed, detained for days and cannot enter Guyana without a visa.”
Given this worrying situation, the AFC recommended the following, since Venezuela has clearly “upped the ante”: no Venezuelan migrants should be allowed to enter Guyana at any official ports of entry or at porous border crossings; that like the Haitians, any other Venezuelan entering Guyana must be granted a visa to enter prior and that the new ID card programme which will seek to register everyone in Guyana must be immediately halted given the lack of electoral integrity in our systems in Guyana and until this crisis is over.
Finally, the party stated that the Opposition must be invited to send a representative on the committee the President had referred to and to participate on all national committees and agencies dealing with the border controversy.