Those of us who might have felt that the unmistakable indications of a qualitative improvement in bilateral relations between Guyana and Suriname had materialized in the exchange of official visits to each other’s capitals by Presidents Ali and Santokhi, the widely publicized collaborative work by technical teams on both sides preparatory to envisaged deeper bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector and the business to business exchange visits that have occurred between the two countries over several months may well be beginning to wonder whether the whole thing was no more than a mirage.
Guyanese, however, must surely be aware by now that differences between countries that have their origins in territorial integrity hardly (if ever) disappear even amid the thickest mists of distraction. Countries, as a general rule, hand down differences over such matters across generations, and while, as in the instance of Guyana and Suriname, those differences do not permanently close off avenues through which they can co-exist, nationalistic sentiments linked to matters that have to do with territorial integrity are not usually easily set aside.
This, very much, has been the case between Guyana and Suriname, historically. While, on the one hand, there is incontrovertible evidence of excellent people to people relations between the two countries at the level of some aspects of trade and commerce and while the authorities on both sides appear to have encouraged rather than discouraged it, there are other issues that have to do with territorial jurisdiction/controversy on which they are disinclined to compromise.
It is altogether unnecessary to restate the details of the Corentyne River dispute here except to state that Suriname’s claim continues to impact on the livelihoods of large numbers of Guyanese fishermen for whom fishing in the river has been a way of (economic) life for several generations. Here, it should be noted that it was the serving Surinamese President, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who, of late, features prominently in the prevailing period of cooling relations between the two countries, who asserted back in 2008 that the Corentyne River, across its entire width, was completely Surinamese territory.
There is no reason to believe that President Santokhi has changed his substantive position; so that the first thing that we must do is to entirely separate his embracing of a cordial relationship with his Guyanese counterpart with his position on the Corentyne River. The Surinamese President presumably understands that given the extant circumstances of the two countries that have to do with their respective significant oil resources, strengthened bilateral relations can be of great gain to both countries and that the circumstance of the Corentyne River cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the broader development of the two countries.
Guyana, on the other hand, can do little at this time to change the dynamic of the economic linkage between the Corentyne River and the livelihoods of large numbers of Guyanese families who derive their living from fishing in and off the river. On both sides, there is a compelling ‘good sense’ reason to resolve the matter of fishing in the river.
The August 2021 Agreement that that Guyanese fishermen would be granted licenses by Suriname to ply their trade offshore of the Corentyne River was ‘inked’ in an atmosphere of considerable optimism, coming as it did against the backdrop of the illuminated bilateral environment that had been created by the high-profile strengthening of relations between Presidents Ali and Santokhi. After the Agreement for the Guyanese fishermen to ply their trade in Surinamese waters was signed and sitting beside President Santokhi, President Ali declared that the two sides had “found a way forward in relation to the granting of licences by Suriname to our fisherfolk” and that the licences “would be in effect from January next year.”
That, we need to remind ourselves, was in August last year. Almost eight months beyond the promised dateline it is unclear when (if?) the promised Agreement will materialize. Indeed, it was back in June that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had reportedly expressed concern over the length of time it was taking Suriname to honour the Agreement.
Setting aside the fact that the delay in the granting of the requisite licences deepens the economic uncertainty which the Corentyne fishermen and their families face, what we hope is no more than a modest hump in the road may well come to be seen as a development that might erode much of the diplomatic legwork that has been done by Presidents Ali and Santokhi over many months, including what appeared to be respective successful official visits to each other’s capitals; and since differences between countries over a single issue can sometimes metamorphose into broader bilateral breakdowns, both Georgetown and Paramaribo have a vested interest in putting the licensing of the fishermen behind them.
After all, as we have grown used to saying in Guyana, these days, both Georgetown and Paramaribo have bigger fish to fry.
