Venezuelan Govt using border controversy to divert attention from economic crisis facing nation
– high school students hear during panel discussion
Dr. Kim Kyte-Thomas Attorney-at-Law, has said the Nicolás Maduro government is using its unlawful claim to Essequibo, along with the tensions that have arisen between the two countries, as a means of diverting attention from the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.
In an effort to raise awareness of the controversy among high school students, Dr. Kyte-Thomas; Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC; Attorney-at-Law and Opposition Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan; and Education Minister and Attorney-at-Law Priya Manickchand, participated in a panel discussion on the topic at the Queen’s College auditorium on Thursday.
The panelists’ repeated assertion was that: International arbitration resolved the dispute over ownership of the Essequibo region in 1899, awarding the region — which makes up more than 40 per cent of Guyana’s sovereign territory, and is rich in natural resources like gold, oil, bauxite and diamonds — to the Guyana Government.
During her presentation, Dr. Kyte-Thomas emphasised that, as a result of the country’s current political and economic crises, millions of Venezuelans have fled to Guyana and other nations in search of a better life. She added that, in an attempt to deflect criticism of its incompetence in running the nation’s affairs, the Nicolás Maduro government has rekindled the border controversy.
“Venezuela has been in an economic financial crisis for a while now. That is why we have such an influx of Venezuelans coming over to Guyana. Guyana is on an upward trajectory in terms of the oil and gas industry… The present leadership of Venezuela is simply exploiting this situation for their benefit. They are in an economic crisis, the election is impending, and this is an attempt to distract the nation from the reality of their situation,” she pointed out.
Dr. Kyte-Thomas said Venezuela “sees our future is bright”, therefore they are “trying to push inventors away, through bullyism and aggression.”
Students and teachers of the Santa Rosa Secondary School in Region One tuned into the live discourse on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy
Members of both the Opposition and Government of Guyana have presented a united front on this matter, and have received support from regional and global allies such as the United Nations (UN). Considering this, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said, Guyana stands on the side of the rule of law.
“Guyana stands on the side of the rule of law. We stand on the side of justice. We stand on the side of international norms. We stand on the side of international conventions and practices, and international diplomacy,” the Attorney General posited.
Nandlall has said Guyana “enjoys global support on the matter” because it upholds the above principles, which he outlined as essential to a contemporary civilised world.
During his presentation, he explained that this controversy is the worst threat Guyana has faced since becoming a nation state.
“Our country is under an existential threat, where our western neighbour is asserting a claim to take over, by annexation or invasion, more than five-eighths of Guyana,” he explained.
The Attorney General told the students that they must understand the core and principal facts of this matter, its historical evolution, and how it would unfold in the near future.
“We simply don’t have the luxury of an alternative recourse,” Nandlall remarked as he made reference to Guyana’s action against Venezuela at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Guyana is seeking a definitive and binding ruling on the Arbitral Award.
Parliamentarian Ramjattan, meanwhile, stated that Guyana wants to continue developing Essequibo, but investors are fleeing the country due to Venezuela’s illegitimate claim to it.
“We want peace, and the kind of peace we want will bring in investors into that area, and we can even populate it more with families and workers for companies that may want to go there,” he detailed.
Students from all across the nation have listened to the live discussion on the Guyana-Venezuela border dispute on the Ministry of Education’s radio station EdYou FM. (Feona Morrison)
Dr. Kim Kyte-Thomas Attorney-at-Law, has said the Nicolás Maduro government is using its unlawful claim to Essequibo, along with the tensions that have arisen between the two countries, as a means of diverting attention from the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.
