Granger blazes gov’t on approach to Venezuela border controversy
By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate, David Granger for the first time has marked his displeasure with the manner in which the Guyana government handled recent territorial disputes with Venezuela in recent years.
Granger in the past had publicly supported the government in its defence against the infractions of the Venezuelan government both with a recent statement and when a Venezuelan naval craft expelled a Guyanese vessel from Guyanese waters.
But Granger in a recent episode of Hard Talk aired on 90.1 Love FM on Sunday March 03 said he was disappointed with the government’s response to Venezuela’s continued aggression towards Guyana.
He said that while he “supported the government of Guyana in disputes that have occurred from October 2013…when a Venezuelan naval craft expelled an unarmed civilian vessel from our water…I do not believe that the government’s response was robust enough.”
He said that the government’s stance on the issue is “weak” pointing out that other options were open to be explored by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to resolve the controversy.
![Opposition Leader, David Granger. [iNews' Photo]](http://www.inewsguyana.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/David-Granger-.jpg)
Opposition Leader, David Granger. [iNews’ Photo]
“The promises of a negotiation which were offered to the Foreign Minister were allowed to lapse,” said Granger.
Only recently the Commonwealth Secretariat was updated on Venezuela’s objection to ExxonMobil conducting oil based operations in the Stabroek Bloc offshore the Essequibo Coast in Guyana.
On March 25, Commonwealth in a published statement noted that the Secretariat had received an update from Guyana on recent developments concerning the challenge to petroleum exploration within what Guyana maintains to be its exclusive economic zone.
According to the Commonwealth website, the Body, “recalled the Commonwealth’s consistent and unequivocal support for the preservation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and said that Guyana’s concerns had been brought to the attention of all Commonwealth member states.”
Venezuela had raised strong objections to ExxonMobil drilling in the Stabroek Block offshore the Essequibo Coast citing that the area was currently the subject of a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.