Kamla: Guyana must 'stand its ground' in border spat

VENEZUELA’S efforts to claim Guyana’s Essequibo region as its own are starting to ramp up, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says, in an exhausted strategic move ahead of Venezuela's national elections, due next year.

Persad-Bissessar, speaking at a UNC cottage meeting on Monday, said she believes the ongoing crisis has been “created by Maduro (to) whip up nationalism under the false pretext that the international community is mistreating Venezuela.”

Maduro is trying to paint himself as a patriotic hero of Venezuela, she said, like former President Hugo Chaves and even the revolutionary Simon Bolivar, who led Venezuela and several other Latin American countries to their independence from the Spanish Empire.

“Dictators love to boast about their patriotism, while calling opponents ‘unpatriotic.’

“It is straight out of the fascist propaganda playbook..."

Persad-Bissessar said Maduro’s “intentions seem to be to deploy the army due to threat of war and to control the streets and movement of persons to prevent campaigning and protests,” ahead of the elections.

“He may then attack and jail opponents for being in league with the ‘imperialists,’ who he falsely accuses of stealing land from Venezuela.

“Due to these tactics, opposition voters may find they will not be able to vote on election day. He may return to power after the Venezuelan elections and everything will just settle down.”

She said history suggests the elections in Venezuela should be taken seriously and watched closely.

She reminded the audience that, while she was PM, Venezuela sought to claim maritime waters “encompassing Guyana’s exclusive economic zone.”

In June 2015, Maduro’s government proclaimed a presidential decree in an attempt to annex Guyana’s waters after an oil discovery the previous month.

A Reuters report cites Guyana’s foreign ministry as describing the decree as a “flagrant violation of international law.

“The decree creates a theoretical ‘defence’ zone offshore that would, in Venezuela's eyes, leave the former British colony with no direct access to the Atlantic,” Reuters reported.

She said, just as she did as PM when she met Guyana's President David Granger in 2015, she is backing Guyana and urging the country to continue standing its ground.

“I stood up for the people of Guyana in 2015 and the UNC will now stand with the people of Guyana in 2023 and 2024."

Tensions continued to build between Venezuela and Guyana on Tuesday, with Maduro reportedly calling for a bill to create a
Guayana Esequiba province. The bill orders Venezuelan companies to prepare to enter the region to explore for minerals and fossil fuels.