All Guyanese must resist Venezuela’s efforts to circumvent our sovereignty.
Dear Editor,
Claiming what you do not own is an act of erroneous aggression. Still wanting to capture what has been settled through international arbitration is a show of contempt for the rule of law. To decide on one day you will use this decree and the next day use another in attempts to push an agenda known to have no moral and international default and support among right-thinking people in your country is a sign of despair .
All 83,000 square miles and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in relation to Guyana remain our property.
President Maduro’s failure to provide basic amenities to Venezuela’s citizens has annoyed his people, leading to a series of widespread protest and discontent. The president’s failure to properly address domestic issues has seen him turn his personal aggression against Guyana and other sovereign nations. President Maduro’s action is intended to rally Venezuela’s citizens against Guyana and others with the intention of diverting attention from his failed economic policies.
The continuing threat from Venezuela has had a negative impact on the development of this country. History has shown that we missed the realization of the Upper Mazaruni hydropower development under the government of President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham because Venezuela claimed Essequibo which intimidated investors and bankers.
Today, we face President Maduro’s action to curb oil production that will help build a vibrant economy that can create thousands of Guyanese jobs, better and expanded social services and infrastructures. Together this means economic development for society and a significant reduction in poverty.
Maduro’s act of economic aggression is intended to circumvent our sovereignty by making us dependent on Venezuela who will play a significant role in determining our national programs. For President Maduro to be an aggressor and when we respond vigorously to his aggressive behavior he offends reflectively he does not understand that Guyana is a sovereign nation and that it has the right to defend its territorial integrity.
Guyanese are required to acknowledge above all that we also have a country we call home and for this reason we must protect and defend every inch that belongs to us, by remembering that what a country can do for us but what we can do for a country. Let us cooperate for Guyana and decide to fight together. Yes we can!
Truly,
Sharma Solomon