Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir, believes CARICOM needs to send a more direct message to Venezuela over its latest actions to claim Guyana’s Essequibo region.

Appearing on Alex Arjoon’s “The Gyaff” podcast, MP Walton-Desir said CARICOM has got to do more than just bemoan the passage of the recent piece of legislation by the Venezuelan government in defence of Essequibo.

“Maduro has to be told in no uncertain terms by CARICOM that he is wrong and that you cannot do this, and that you have to desist from this course of action, because that is what is warranted. This is unprecedented in this part of the world that you pass a decree and purport to annex two-thirds of your neighbour’s territory, it is unheard of”, she said.

Since Maduro’s latest actions against Guyana to strengthen his claim of Guyana’s Essequibo region, condemnation has poured in. The Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of American States and CARICOM have all made known their objections to, and their rejection of the new Venezuelan legislation.

The United Nations Security Council also discussed the issue following a request by Guyana. In a statement, the UN called on both Guyana and Venezuela to exercise maximum restraint, reminding the two countries of their obligations to comply with the Order of Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice in December 2023.

Opposition MP Walton-Desir said Guyana must also take a much firmer position on how it deals with Venezuela.

“It has to be a strategy of reliance on the international community, which we are doing. But we have to abandon this whole notion of appeasement. It doesn’t work. We saw (President) Irfaan Ali making a big demonstration of presenting to Maduro, rum, as a sign of good faith. But Maduro, prior to that, never deviated from his course of action. There should be no exchanging of gifts in the first place. There seems to be a reluctance to understand that this is an adversary”.

Walton-Desir also said the Venezuelan Ambassador should have been summoned and a letter of protest should have been given to him by the Government, over the recent actions of Venezuela.

She once again called on the Government to have regular meetings with the Opposition on the issue and to also have regular meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations. The Opposition MP said she has written several letters to the Foreign Minister requesting a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee, but the Foreign Minister remains mute on that issue.

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