Blame Burnham, not Maduro
With all the daily political chatter and governmental hyperbole in Guyana, about the Venezuela –Guyana border issue, little analysis is being devoted as to how we got to be in this unfortunate position in the first place. No mention is being made of the historical fact that Burnham created this situation for his own myopic political ends, and in harmony with Cold War objectives.
The Venezuela –Guyana border issue, was a non-issue until the risk of a pro-Soviet Jagan Government heading an independent Guyana in the 1960’s arose. The 17th February 1966 Geneva Agreement which Burnham happily signed, revived a dead claim, and gave it legal validity. It should really be called the "Lazarus Agreement" not the "Geneva Agreement". It was a blatant Cold War project to provide a pretext for Western invasion, should the perceived need arise to curb Soviet influence in a post-independent Guyana. It was an imperialist pre-condition for the granting of independence, which Burnham with his opportunist lust for power, went along with. But for the Lazarus Agreement there would be no legal foundation for Venezuela’s claim. It is interesting to compare the way in which the British dealt with the Guatemala-Belize border dispute as compared to that of the Venezuela –Guyana border dispute. In Belize there was no risk of a Soviet presence post-independence, so no "Lazarus" style agreement was signed, rather Britain undertook to protect Belize militarily post-independence should it be threatened by Guatemala. If Burnham really had the interests of Guyana at heart, it would have been better to delay independence rather than to enter into the "Lazarus Agreement".
Having said that, it is self-evident that the Arbitration Award of 1899 had to have been twisted to be in imperial Britain’s favour, it would be naïve to think otherwise. Parasitical Britain, like all colonial and imperialist powers would have found ways to ensure that the Arbitrators’ neutrality was just a thin veneer. However, all third world borders are colonial projects. We need to be working towards their removal, not the relocating of them. Paradoxically, the tables have now turned, and the American Empire will be using this same border issue to ferment regional hostility against the Bolivarian Government, in an attempt to turn it back into a US puppet client state.
Under the Lazarus Agreement at Article 5 (2), Venezuela now has a legitimate legal right to object to the new maritime claims of Guyana. Blame Burnham for that, not Maduro. Clause 5 (2) states: “No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in those territories shall be asserted while this Agreement is in force”.
The Maduro Government has been accused by the Guyana APNU-AFC Government of using the Venezuela –Guyana border issue, to distract the Venezuelan public’s attention from internal concerns, however, the reality seems to be that if indeed Maduro is doing so, he is not alone, as the APNU-AFC Government is doing likewise with its daily utterings and military tomfoolery like “Exercise Greenheart” etc. It is preposterous to think that the GDF could ever be any match to Venezuela’s might. All the GDF has ever proved itself good at doing, is helping APNU's predecessor [the PNC] to rig elections. Maybe that is APNU-AFC’s real intent down the road, to revitalise the GDF to again be able to assist in the rigging of elections. As for this talk of a “juridical settlement” by referring the matter to the International Court of Justice – again Burnham has obstructed that – under the Lazarus Agreement this can only happen with Venezuela’s consent, or on a referral by the Secretary General of the United Nations. Guyana cannot initiate it.
It is about time that the APNU-AFC Government told the people the truth about Burnham’s treacherous role in the Lazarus Agreement. Maduro is as much a coerced victim of that agreement, as are the Guyanese people. Granger rather than wasting Guyanese tax payers money on world-wide travel, whilst spouting vitriol against Maduro; would be better advised to try to calm things down, and campaign for Venezuela's membership of Caricom, with an open border between Guyana and Venezuela, which would be to everyone's benefit.
-Lalu Hanuman is an Attorney-at-Law-
