Venezuelans should be allowed to come under controlled circumstances

Dear Editor,

I have relatives resident in Essequibo who located jobs and developed businesses in Venezuela during the hard times here.  They even found spouses from amongst the Venezuelan population.  Similarly, I had some neighbours in faraway Demerara who made a living in our now distressed and beleaguered neighbour.

Like Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, and Brazil, Venezuela was a haven, and provided succour for many down-on-their-luck Guyanese.  The Guyanese were involved in ‘trading’ which was the all-encompassing word covering a whole range of products (mainly foodstuffs) and activities.  Quite a few Guyanese lived for a long time ‘illegally’ in those societies, including Venezuela.  Many of them prospered under the radar of immigration. In sum, Venezuelans were there as good neighbours and a compassionate people when their times were good, and ours were bad. They were there in a time of acute shortages and widespread needs.  Thus, I submit that Guyana and Guyanese should remember and exhibit the same now that the roles are reversed and the shoe is on the other foot.  It is the right thing to do. Having said this, I recognize Minister Harmon’s remark about those who are legally here being welcomed.  I understand and appreciate fully his stance.  Nevertheless, I will be so bold as to suggest that this country be neither too intense nor too zealous at enforcement.  I make this suggestion, even as a couple of concerns linger at the back of my mind. First, the lessons and plight, as currently experienced in Europe, with the unending stream of refugees seeking relief can metamorphose into a serious problem.  It can also be a cover for those with sinister biographies and even more sinister objectives.  Think crime.

Second, and to me even more troubling, I recall Hitler and the Sudetenland, with its German-speaking population concentrations, which became a flashpoint for the old Czechoslovakia.  Decades from now, some Venezuelan political adventurer could look across the border at all these Spanish-speaking people, and be tempted like Hitler to seize the opportunity to shift the borders through a naked land grab.  History offers that unpalatable lesson to Guyanese.  And it should be remembered: no good deed goes unpunished.  Still, I persist in saying that the Venezuelans ought to be allowed to come, but under very controlled circumstances.

Yours faithfully,

GHK Lall