Gya: Chavez's smoke got in Guyana's eyes

It seems Chavez blew a lot of smoke, cuz nothing concrete seems to have come out of his trip to Guyana. That President Jagdeo thinks that something concrete did might have more to do with his own delusions than with any firm commitment made by the wily Venezuelan president. Guyana really should tread lightly with Venezuela, as the CaribPundit believes and as this editorial suggests. Read the rest for yourself.

The charismatic President of Venezuela, full of charm and good humour, touched down last Thursday on the soil of the nation whose economy he has stymied, and three-fifths of whose land-space he has claimed in the name of his people. Riveting speeches were made, children were kissed and invited to Caracas, Guyana's presidents - past and present - were praised, oil purchases were discussed, debt was forgiven, health and education projects were agreed, a Caracas-Georgetown road link was announced, integration was proposed and a "love process" was declared.

In the midst of all this 'amour,' ordinary Guyanese had only one question to ask: Did President Chavez give any indication that Venezuela might be prepared to move in the direction of abandoning her claim to our territory? The answer is, of course not. And is she now disposed to stop placing obstacles in the way of Essequibo's economic development? The answer to that one too seems to be a qualified no. If it is roads, water, energy, communications and agriculture, there might not, apparently, be a problem. But the Venezuelan head of state informed the media that he considered any other project should be discussed within the context of the high-level bi-lateral commission.

Fortunately, the Government of Guyana did not share this view, and so no agreement was arrived at regarding it, although in our edition yesterday we did report Foreign Minister Insanally as saying that the commission could be used to exchange information - whatever that means. Be that as it may, the bottom line is that Venezuela's position in relation to the 1899 arbitral award has not changed, all the displays of affection notwithstanding.

Let it not be forgotten that President Chavez has not always been so accommodating in his dealings with us; prior to his present domestic difficulties, he adopted the most aggressive stance of any Venezuelan President on the matter of the frontier since Herrera Campins in the early 1980s. Since this issue has not yet been resolved, we should always be conscious of the possibility that if the political situation to the west of us stabilizes, it could again be revived in a more active form.

In other words, assurances about a "love process" mean nothing in the long term; it is at the whim of any given Venezuelan administration as to how it treats with us. Our neighbour is not only far bigger and more powerful than we are, but she is also the one making the claim against us, and not vice versa. How and when she prosecutes that claim, therefore, is entirely within her discretion and not ours.

And there are some very compelling reasons why President Chavez should be seeking a warm relationship with us now. He is facing a possible recall referendum at home; he governs a bitterly divided nation; and he is at serious odds with Washington which he accuses of trying to bring down his government, and which in turn has accused him of linking with Cuba's President Castro to destabilize democratic governments in the region. A sympathetic Guyana to the east, therefore, is far more in his interest at the moment than one which is openly aligned with the US, as is the case with Colombia where border tensions are high.

All of which does not mean to say that he is allowing the matter of the territorial claim to lie completely dormant for the time being; he has other avenues open to him. His talk in our capital was all of integration - including the political integration of the continent of which Simon Bolivar dreamed. The instrument of 'integration' where we are concerned is the Caracas-Georgetown road link, to which the Government of Guyana, it seems, has unhesitatingly committed itself without a second cautionary thought.

Jagdeo is playing with a piranha who would gobble up Guyana without a second thought. The same road that would link Guyana to Venezuela is the same road that can be used to invade Guyana. Think about that.