Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolas Maduro has promised to send “information” to his Guyanese counterpart on the invasion of Guyana’s territory by the Venezuelan military last week.
Maduro, who is currently travelling outside his country, has pledged to send the information as soon as he gets back to Venezuela. Maduro made the promise in a telephone call to Minister of Foreign Affairs Rudy Insanally yesterday.
The invasion of Guyana’s territory included two helicopters flying in Guyana’s airspace without permission after one dredge was reportedly sunk and the other blown up by the Venezuelan military last Thursday.
Maduro did not tell Insanally when he would be back in the neighbouring country but said he would be in contact with him; that he was taking the matter seriously; and that Venezuela was intent on maintaining good relations with Guyana.
Stabroek News had been told earlier in the week that Maduro was in Europe and was expected back in Venezuela by this weekend.
In March, during the Rio Summit in a media meeting with the local and foreign media, Maduro also had promised to send a report to Guyana on the shooting to death of Guyanese Parasram Persaud at Eteringbang by members of the Venezuelan army on October 6, 2006. To date no report on that shooting has been forthcoming.
On Tuesday, Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana, Dario Morandy had asked Insanally for extra time to obtain a response from Venezuela on the infringement of Guyanese territory by Venezuela. Morandy had said last Friday that the Venezuelan military had been conducting a military exercise in Venezuelan territory and had denied they had entered Guyanese territory.
A joint investigative team comprising members of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force conducted investigations in the area and concluded that the attacks were made on Guyanese soil.
Meanwhile, Vision Guyana run by businessman and self-declared presidential contender for 2011 Peter Ramsaroop in a release issued yesterday said, “the attack by Venezuela on Guyanese in Guyana’s waters cannot be condoned, not even in the face of a shipment of 16,000 barrels of fuel to avert a crisis gripping our nation. We should not be bought.”
Vision Guyana said it believed that fear of a Venezuelan invasion was a deterrent to major private investors wanting to invest in the Essequibo region, which is rich in natural resources.
“This is a longstanding issue that we must take aggressive action, whether military or diplomatic to protect the sovereignty of our lands. We lack the bold leadership and foreign policy necessary to deal with such aggression by our neighbour in holding our country hostage,” Vision Guyana said.
The group called on the government to use all means necessary to deal with the situation to prevent further aggression and to ensure that any claim to Guyana’s territory by the Venezuelan government was removed.
Vision Guyana follows the parliamentary minority parties AFC and GAP-ROAR in condemning the invasion. (Miranda La Rose)
