MSJ: Caricom must be vigilant over Pompeo visit

THE Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is expressing concern and questioning the motives and timing behind the visit by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Guyana later this week.

MSJ political leader David Abdulah fears this visit has to do with Guyana agreeing to allow its territory to be used by the US for a military intervention into Venezuela which it borders.

The Donald Trump regime has made no secret of its desire to see a regime change in Venezuela and Abdulah said should the newly elected government of Guyana give way, that would run counter to Guyana’s long held position of respect for the sovereignty of nation states and the non-interference in the internal affairs of another state

“It would be an absolute rejection of Caricom’s position that the Caribbean shall be a zone of peace.” He said it would cause irreparable damage to Caribbean unity and to the institution of Caricom not seen since the US invasion of Grenada in 1983.”

He noted Guyana was one of just two Caribbean countries to openly endorse Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US Deputy National Security Adviser for Latin America and Donald Trump’s choice to be the new President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Stating this is the second visit by Pompeo to a Caricom country this year, having visited Jamaica in January, where he met with a few select Caricom PM’s, Abdulah said notably absent from that meeting were Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley who was chair of Caricom at the time, her successor St Vincent and the Grenadines’s Prime Minister as well as the Prime Ministers of TT, Antigua and Barbuda.

“These PMs were centrally involved in efforts to bring about a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Venezuela, contrary to the US position which is for regime change – the ousting of the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro by any means.”

“The MSJ calls on regional governments to stand their ground on the well-established principles of international relations and to let the Government of Guyana know that it must not allow itself to be used as a pawn in the US agenda of regime change in Venezuela.

“We certainly hope that the Government of Guyana will not sell its soul for a mess of pottage, even if that is a “sweetener” in the form of a greater, albeit fairer, share of wealth from the massive oil finds by US giant Exxon.

“Nor should the ruling PP/Civic take pride in being supported by the US in the elections imbroglio earlier this year.”

He said it was, “Caricom as a whole, as well as individual Caricom PM’s (Mottley, Rowley, Mitchell, Skerrit and Gonsalves) who were central to the eventual negotiated process of recounting the votes that led to the PPP/Civic winning the election.