Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd this evening confirmed that the 12 Guyanese fishermen detained in Venezuela have been released and will begin their journey home at first light.
“We have confirmed that they have been released and will return to Guyana tomorrow,” Todd told Stabroek News this evening.
The men were detained on January 21, 2020 while fishing in Guyanese waters aboard the Lady Nayera and the Sea Wolf.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation the two vessels were intercepted by Venezuelan naval vessel Commandante Hugo Chavez GC 24, while operating off the coast of Waini Point at a position of N 80 49’ 06”/ w 590 37’ 40” W.
These co-ordinates they remind are “well within Guyana’s territory” and therefore the crew members and vessels are currently illegally detained at Port Guiria, Venezuela.
Venezuela has refuted this claim via a statement from its own Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Relations. According to this statement the naval vessel was operating “in waters of undisputed Venezuelan sovereignty”.
While they fail to reference the specific location, Caracas claims that the two vessels were “engaged in illegal fishing in flagrante delicto in waters of full sovereignty and jurisdiction of Venezuela, without also having any type of legal documentation.”
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterates that it will not allow illegal incursions of any kind into its territory and that it will exercise, as it has always done, the sacred right to the defence of their sovereignty,” the statement claimed.
In an address to the Nation on Saturday, President Irfaan Ali said that bilateral relations with Venezuela will be on hold until such time as it desists from aggression and immediately releases the fishing vessels and crew members.
“We are committed to bilateral discussions of matters of joint concern such as COVID-19 and Venezuelan migration to Guyana but….these discussions must be preceded by a commitment from Venezuela to desist from aggression and release immediately the vessels and crew,” Ali said during a public briefing on the matter.
Aboard the Lady Nayera are the captain, Richard Ramnarine and his crewa: Ramlakan Kamal, Nick Raghubar, Javin Boston, Michael Domingo and Joel Joseph.
On the Sea Wolf are its captain, Toney Garraway and crewmen, Errol Gardiner, Orland Roberts, Christopher Shaw, Shervin O’ Neil and Randy Henry.
