Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 06, 2008 Letters
Dear Editor,
I find it interesting that a letter purportedly written by one Mike Rahman and published in the Kaieteur News on 8/5/08 asks the question as to “where is the evidence that we should be watchful of Venezuela”.
Mr. Rahman, if he does exit as the name given, should remember that Venezuela took an island from Guyana called Ankoko.
The said island is still under the control of Venezuela. Also, there are incursions by Venezuela into Guyana’s territory that are too numerous to mention.
A few months ago some Venezuelan military personnel staged a raid, into Guyana, resulting in a Guyanese owned dredge being destroyed under the premise or claim that the dredge was operating in Venezuela’s territory.
What is of interest is the assertion by Rahman that those who are leery of Venezuela’s intent are un-educated and reactionary.
This would infer that Mr. Rahman is very educated and not reactionary, even with the stated intent of Venezuela, and even with Guyanese being shot by the Venezuelan military more than a year ago.
Venezuela teaches in its schools that the Essequibo area belongs to Venezuela.
This method of teaching the young Venezuelan’s only serves to propagate the thought that Venezuela intends to have this issue prolonged way into the future.
It also serves to ensure that the future of the Essequibo districts would always be a contentious issue without any resolution, because given the fact that man does not live forever, the passing of Mr. Chavez could see a renewed claim that could be more militaristic and problematic for Guyana. Mr. Rahman should be apprised that the development of the Essequibo districts are a continued ambition of all Guyanese, but this development is being unrealised or hampered from being a reality by this erroneous claim by Venezuela.
The prolonging of this claim serves to limit investment in an area that may contain numerous oil deposits. These deposits would serve to propel Guyana’s infrastructural development and both social and economic prosperity.
Also, with our own oil industry, we would have eliminated the need to stand like beggars awaiting the generosity of the President of Venezuela deciding when and under what conditions Guyana should receive oil support; doing all this while he serves as the major deterrent to our national development.
To be independent means that a country has within its rights the sole authority to develop and manage any of its land mass as it sees fit. Consequently, Guyanese are prevented from developing their territory due to the continuous and misguided assertion that we are occupying the land of others.
This thought process must and should be removed from the annals of our history. The irrelevancy of whether we receive oil from Venezuela should not serve as a constraint or gratitude to Guyanese when Venezuela is the deterrent to our own resources remaining un-explored.
As stated by Mr. Rahman that “the old ruling class in Venezuela continue to perpetuate this claim”, why should that have any relevancy to us as Guyanese?
We should not care, whom or how many, continue to perpetuate this claim. What we would like to see is this “Cloud of Military Might” being lifted and let us get on with our efforts of development.
For Mr. Rahman to single out Mr. Trotman for unjust criticism clearly depicts his lack of knowledge and foresight into the modes of the making of a nation.
Mr. Trotman has the foresight to discern that there must be a profound change to the status quo, as it pertains to the current Essequibo stalemate.
He is the only Guyanese politician that has expressed the mature sensibility that there must be a change to this border claim. I, in my uneducated and ignorant state, have been a critic of Venezuela’s overtures in trying to lure Guyana into some agreement that without a revocation of this claim would see us contorting in future pain.
As was reported in the press a few weeks ago, the current Government of Guyana dispatched some political functionaries to go and talk to Venezuela about a Gas Pipeline, when we as a nation are still under duress from Venezuela about the Essequibo districts.
I have voiced my opinion about this issue and to date only one politician has shown the guts to speak out against the national political scourge, called the “Essequibo Claim”.
We Guyanese are constantly being reminded how tenuous the situation is when Venezuela unilaterally decides that some military muscle flexing venture is needed to remind Guyana that the Venezuelan claim is still an overt ambition.
Mr. Rahman should ask the question as to why a country like Guyana that is not burdened with population explosion, or lack of natural resources, continue to be mired in the “quagmire of poverty” and for the answer he should look no further than himself.
We must have a public and international revocation of this claim to Guyana’s land, then I would feel vindicated as a Guyanese born, who remain uneducated and reactionary as per Rahman.
This issue should be non-political, and should evoke the national interest. All politicians and others should make this issue paramount to the partisan politics that seem to shroud our national being.
Patrick Barker
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