CARICOM NEEDS TO STEP UP ACTION

Regional scholars call on Caricom to step up action on the Essequibo dispute.

Transcript

00:00Tensions have been rising between Venezuela and Guyana as the former tries

00:05to lay claim over the Essequibo region. An armed Venezuelan Navy vessel

00:10entering Guyana's waters and positioning itself near a vessel contracted by Exxon

00:16Mobile Corp is but one example. It's denouncement by the Trump administration to

00:23cancel authorization to Chevron Corporation of the U.S. to operate its oil fields in

00:31Venezuela. An operation which provided an economic and financial lifeline for the

00:37Maduro administration in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis in that

00:42country. One could see here that part of the move to escalate these activity

00:50actions by Venezuela may be a test of the geopolitical temperature. Carl Greenidge,

00:57Guyana's advisor on borders at their Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out

01:01that Venezuela repudiated the award of 1989 after respecting it for more than

01:0863 years. There's practically, he says, little evidence of Venezuela's

01:13occupation of Guyana. That is one of the reasons why the Venezuelans are

01:22implacably opposed to going to the ICJ. But in fact it's not only the ICJ they

01:29don't want to go to. They don't want to go to any court because the case is a

01:33joke. The case is extremely weak. Ambassador Dr. Riyad Insanali says

01:40CARICOM seems to be overly cautious as evidenced by the worrying nuances in its

01:46most recent statement on the dispute. Why in the very first line of the

01:51statement was the incursion into Guyana's EEZ referred to as an interaction with

01:58one of the oil platforms. This is no friendly encounter. It was a calculated

02:03violation of Guyana's maritime area and an unnecessary provocation in addition

02:09to being in breach of international law and the Argyle Agreement as is

02:13recognized in the statement. And why the excessively cautious diplomatic language

02:18in enjoining both Guyana and Venezuela, I quote, to avoid unnecessary

02:24confrontational actions. But he says CARICOM does have a role in the

02:29prevention of incursion and loss of life. CARICOM should actively consider the

02:35enlargement and widening of the regional security system of which Guyana is a

02:41member to establish a Caribbean regional security system and launch a military

02:47observation mission in Guyana. At the same time, I believe, CARICOM should

02:53consider joining Guyana in a joint approach with the United Nations to seek

03:00the establishment, with the CRSS engaged, of a multilateral military mission.

03:07Arvishi Tiwari, Ruknur Ayin, TV6 News.