No give away! Granger assures Guyana will not cede territory to Venezuela
“GUYANA will not sell out or “give away” any part of its territory to Venezuela or Suriname, President David Granger said yesterday as he addressed troops following a week-long simulation exercise (Exercise Greenheart) in jungle warfare at Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni–Mazaruni).“We cannot sell out; we cannot give away; we cannot offer the adversary any corridor, any passage,” President Granger stated emphatically, in obvious reference to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent statement that the PPP had considered ceding maritime territory to placate Venezuela.
Jagdeo, a former president, told members of the media at a recent press conference that his administration had been exploring the option of negotiating a settlement with Venezuela that would have seen that country being given a channel out to the sea.
His exact words were: “Well, we gather that there are several other options available to the (UN) Secretary- General. I don’t want to say much about the options, but let me say…I am in a very difficult position, but there were other options that involve a negotiated settlement… Negotiated settlement which did not see any land concession that the 1899 Award would remain intact, but there was one view that you could probably, on the maritime area, give Venezuela a channel out to the sea.”
Asked whether he was suggesting that a part of the Essequibo be given to Venezuela, Jagdeo replied, “Not the Essequibo River; Orinoco, just on the border. Not our Essequibo; I didn’t mean that.”
But President Granger told soldiers yesterday, “We have an obligation to hand over to our children and grand-children the country that we inherited from our parents and grandparents.”
He said Guyana is not afraid of any threat to its territorial sovereignty, and that granted that gunboats have been placed in Guyana’s waters, it is the role of the GDF “to guarantee the people of our country that they’d be safe of any aggression.”
BE NOT TROUBLED
“So, GDF, be not troubled by the gun boats; you stay firm! And we the people of Guyana will be behind you; we the Government of Guyana will be in front of you; we will always be proud of diplomats, of diplomacy to ensure that peace is maintained!” he said as he assured the residents of Bartica that he would continue his pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the two border controversies.
He would continue to have meetings with UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the Commonwealth, the president said, adding that he would also continue to communicate with any agency that was committed to the peaceful resolution of the controversies. “At all costs,” he said, “Guyana’s territorial integrity must be preserved.”
With reference to the just-concluded seven-day manoeuvre, code-named Exercise Greenheart, President Granger said it was not an “offensive operation” but rather a “defensive operation”.
“Exercise Greenheart is about defending your territory,” he said. “You are defensive, not aggressive; you are protective, not offensive; you are positive, you are not negative. We want peace, and this is the best demonstration of our desire for peace.”
The Commander-in-Chief told ranks that exercises such as the one just concluded are a demonstration of our resolve as a people.
“It is a demonstration of our determination; it is a demonstration that we will not allow our destiny to be impaired or compromised by anybody,” he said.
“We in Guyana have no choice but to defend our territory, and protect our property. We have never sent a gun boat into the waters of a neighbouring state and we never will and we don’t want any neighbouring state to commit the act of aggression against us,” he added.
The former army commander said it is important that army officers remain fit, and that even though Guyana is celebrating its 50th Anniversary next month, “It doesn’t mean you must behave like a 50-year-old. You must behave like a 15-year-old; you must be fit and active.”
LOOK TO HISTORY
He also urged troops to remember their history; that back in 1966, some 49 years ago, Venezuela drew first blood when its troops occupied Ankoko Island. “So, as I speak at this very moment, Venezuelan armed national forces are still in occupation of Guyanese territory. The GDF is the only organisation that stands between the adversary and the people of Guyana,” President Granger said, adding:
“And as far as Venezuela is concerned, what they are claiming is that the award of 1899, which gave them 15,000 square km of land, is invalid.”
His argument is, “If it is invalid, give us back the 15,000 square kilometers; let’s start over again. But if you want to hold on to the land that was defined for us in 1899, we will hold on to the land that was defined for us in 1899.”
He urged the soldiers to protect Guyana’s territorial sovereignty so that their children and grandchildren could benefit from the country inherited by their forefathers.
Turning to the Suriname border controversy, President Granger said that that country had laid claim to the New River Triangle and passed a resolution in its National Assembly that renamed the New River Triangle, Corentyne. The move to rename it sees Suriname claiming all the land between the New River Triangle and the ‘real Corentyne’.
“We cannot accept a municipal decision; we will only accept the ruling of a tribunal. And as far as we are concerned, the Corentyne River has not changed in the last 100/200 years,” the President added.
By Ariana Gordon
