Every time that Caricom Heads of Government meet, they include language in their final communiqué on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. However, at their encounter next month in Barbados the matter will no longer be about a dormant claim, but one that has come alive and is potentially dangerous.
The strength of their response will demonstrate whether Caricom has the unity and willingness to address the significant questions that have been raised by the decision of an economic ally and regional neighbour, to promulgate a decree law that, in part, claims the offshore territory of three Caricom nations.
The background is that on May 27, Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, gazetted a decree which created for reasons of “territorial defence” an “Atlantic Coast of Venezuela.” This new law contained co-ordinates and language that effectively claimed sovereignty over the
