Dear Editor,
Please permit me space in your publication to express my thoughts regarding current escalation in the Essequibo County. I know there are lots of thoughts regarding it and I hope that mine adds some value to your audience. We all know the story of Columbus and it is very relevant to our current escalation.
On June 18th 1492, Pope Nicholas V wrote the first of three Papal Bulls that created the foundation for the Doctrine of Discovery. In present day Guyana, we know it as Prescriptive Rights. This led to Columbus, conquest, slavery, colonization, independence and the present day (Wars in between). On March 30th, 2023, the Catholic Church, by way of a Vatican press release, officially repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery. What does this have to do with Essequibo? Everything.
Every claim on the land is rooted in The Doctrine of Discovery. It is therefore my appeal to the Pope that an official notice from the Vatican be issued to Venezuela that it should cease its claims to lands in South America that were once in the name of Spanish Conquest.
The mines of Peru are empty, the Incas are only ruins and the Spanish Armada sits at the bottom of the sea. To be continued.
Sincerely,
Surendra Dhanpaul
