WPA urges Govt to set up Venezuelan border task force, reach out to traditional partners

– lauds PPP/C Govt for putting issue on front burner

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA), in expressing support for the priority the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has accorded to the Venezuelan border controversy, has also urged the Government to set up a bi-partisan Venezuelan border task force.
In a recent statement, the party noted that Venezuela’s aggression against Guyana is an “existential threat to Guyana’s inalienable rights”, which must be dealt with on several fronts. One such front is adopting a proactive national approach transcending partisan considerations.
“WPA does not promote an end to domestic political contestation, but we appeal for an enlargement of the political space for joint action in pursuit of an overarching national response to Venezuela,” the party said.

“Towards that end, WPA urges an overtly national response by the Government and other stakeholders to what is now clearly a permanent problem—one that would not cease to exist even after the ICJ rules in our favour.”
The party urged the Government to set up a Venezuelan border task force, which would be in charge of fashioning and implementing a strategy and would include members of the National Assembly from both Government and Opposition, representatives of the executive and experts with the relevant skills.
“Second, WPA feels very strongly that the Government, with the support of the National Assembly, should consider calling a counter-referendum in Guyana with the clear intention of affirming Guyana’s territorial integrity and our country’s commitment to a just, legal, and peaceful resolution to the issue.”
“In addition to the above, the referendum should serve as a medium for popular education and mobilisation of the popular mass of Guyanese citizens. “Not a blade of Grass” must become more than a slogan—it must be a guide to sensible action,” the WPA further said.
Another recommendation made by the Government was for the implementation of shuttle diplomacy to the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Commonwealth and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
“WPA urges the Government and people of Guyana not to simplistically harbour the view that our allies and friends would automatically stand with us. All countries act first in pursuit of their national interests. Guyana must therefore be intentional and purposeful in winning over traditional friends and allies to our cause,” the party said.
On September 21, 2023, Venezuela’s National Assembly passed a resolution calling for a referendum regarding Venezuela’s unsubstantiated claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory. Subsequently, the National Electoral Council of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela issued five questions to be asked in the national referendum.
Among the questions, all of which are intended to further Venezuela’s unlawful and unfounded claims, questions three and five are the most detrimental. Question three seeks to ratify Venezuela’s “historical position of not recognising the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice” as the final and binding means of settlement while question five brazenly seeks the approval of the Venezuelan people for the creation of a new Venezuelan State in Guyana’s Essequibo region, which would be incorporated into the national territory of Venezuela, and the granting of Venezuelan citizenship and identification cards to the population.
Guyana went to court to seek an injunction against the most problematic questions on the referendum, presenting its single round of oral arguments to the Court on Tuesday, November 14 and Venezuela presented its case on Wednesday. The president of the Court has indicated that the Court would provide its decision to the parties as soon as possible.
Other steps have been taken. On November 6, Guyana’s National Assembly unanimously passed a motion reaffirming the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and condemning Venezuela’s referendum. The passage of this motion followed extensive meetings between President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, as the Government and the Opposition presented a united front on an issue of national importance.
In 2018, Guyana applied to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), requesting that the Court confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award regarding the boundary between the then British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela.
The application also sought to affirm that the 1899 award was a “full, perfect, and final settlement” of all questions related to determining the boundary between the colony of British Guiana and Venezuela.
(G-3)