From Guyana Times

The Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) said it was most perturbed over the spurious claims by Venezuela to Guyana’s territory, especially its territorial waters.

In condemning the move, the organisation said that it was seen as an act of economic aggression against a small Caricom country which was reaching for the economic development of its people with the recent discovery of oil in its waters.

“In the opinion of the CAIC, this move by Venezuela is designed to stymie the growth of Guyana’s economy and drive away foreign investors from the country. The CAIC strongly rejects Venezuela’s claim and urges the Caricom Heads of Government to stand fully united with Guyana in their refutation of Venezuela’s claims.

The CAIC believes that such aggression against a Caricom country is an attack on the territorial integrity of all of our states which must be resisted by the entire Caribbean,” a release from the body read.

To this end, the CAIC said it unequivocally supported Guyana in its quest to resolve this unfair treatment which is tantamount to a neighbour claiming all the land in front of one’s house.

“The Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) has pledged to support Guyana in the ongoing maritime border dispute with Venezuela. CAIC reaffirm its unequivocal support for the maintenance and preservation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said.

This statement comes against the backdrop of President David Granger’s attendance at the 36th Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Barbados in an effort to garner support from the countries under the Treaty for Guyana against the claim made by Venezuela.

On May 20, ExxonMobil announced that it had discovered recoverable hydrocarbon resources in its Liza-1 well at the Stabroek Block, with a commercial value in excess of US$1 billion. This represents the first major energy discovery in Guyana’s history.

Venezuelan leaders have accused Guyana of illegally conceding licences for Exxon to explore hydrocarbon resources – in the Stabroek Block offshore the Essequibo Coast – which they allege lie beneath Venezuela’s territorial waters. Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has demanded that Exxon halt its operations in the area.

Guyana has since denied such accusations, claiming that Caracas has far exceeded its cartographic projection of sovereign sea territories, out of the Essequibo basin delta, which divides both nations. The Essequibo basin and delta region amounts to over 150.000 square kilometres of territory – nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s land area – claimed by Venezuela.

If we look at the history, the origin of the discord lies in a dispute, dating back to the 16th century when the Essequibo area belonged to Spain. The area was soon afterward controlled by the Dutch West India Company, then by France in the late 17th Century, and eventually was controlled by the British Empire in the 19th century as British Guyana.

More recently, on May 26, President Nicolás Maduro signed a presidential decree re-defining Venezuela’s maritime borders and activating the so-called “Atlantic ZODIMAIN” (for Insular and Maritime Defence Zones). This new delimitation of territorial waters claims the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast.

Venezuelan economy

According to the CAIC, it cannot be ignored that the sudden escalation comes at the right time for Venezuela, which is experiencing an acute economic crisis and critically low Government approval rates.

“President Maduro is on the brink of a major social disaster due to public distress; also midterm elections are just a couple of months ahead. One can claim that it would not be absurd to conceive this resurfacing dispute as an international affairs stunt, in other words, an attempt to divert public attention away from inflation and food shortages. Planting the idea of an armed conflict could be a political stratagem to revive old patriotic emotions while diverting attention away from domestic problems,” the industry and commerce organisation said.

The body is of the view that if mediation on the dispute is to take place, at this stage, the matter should be treated at the designated international table of the United Nations. “Guyana will maintain its claims based on the 1899 Paris award, whilst Venezuela will charge against it, looking for the UN to declare its nullity and prevent foreign oil companies from drilling the basins.”

Furthermore, CAIC believes that Guyana should seek support from the Commonwealth member governments, individually and collectively and from Caricom Heads of Governments who, united and through the UN, should commit to peacefully find a resolution of the disputes.

For more on this story go to: http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/2015/07/03/caribbean-private-sector-body-denounces-venezuelas-maritime-decree/

IMAGE: atlas-caraibe.certic.unicaen.fr

Related story:

Venezuela’s maritime claim impacts on the wider Caribbean- Greenidge

By Demerara Waves From CND

Guyana will warn the rest of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom) that Venezuela’s recent unilateral extension of its maritime boundaries takes in the sea space of several Caribbean islands when regional leaders meet from Thursday in Barbados for their annual summit.

Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Carl Greenidge told AFP that his country would provide hard evidence to other member-states to prove that Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s Decree 1787 issued on May 27, 2015 could affect peace and security in the Caribbean.

“Our assessment and those of the experts we have consulted suggest that the decree in effect seeks to annex a significant portion of the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of all of the Caribbean States and so it is the whole of the region that is directly affected , not indirectly affected,” said Greenidge.

The Caricom summit will be held from July 2 to 4.

Sources said that based on Guyana’s analysis, with the assistance of friendly nations, Venezuela’s maritime delineation will extend to Colombia, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat (UK), Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. “In fact, the Decree suggests that most of the Eastern Caribbean States, like Guyana, are practically devoid of an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, to which they are entitled under international law, to Venezuela’s full advantage,” states a classified document seen by Demerara Waves.

According to the Decree, Venezuela’s military is authorized to enforce the unilaterally annexed maritime space that includes the coastal waters off Colombia and the Guyanese coastal region of Essequibo.

In apparent reference to the fact that several Caribbean countries are beneficiaries of Venezuela concessionary oil deal, PetroCaribe, Greenidge hoped that the rest of Caricom would not be silenced.

“Obviously, it is for those Heads to take appropriate action, whatever the state of their current bilateral relations with Venezuela. Bilateral relations can only continue if you are a state! In a matter as fundamental as this, silence is not an option if we are to remain independent, let alone as viable states. We have to stoutly and unapologetically represent our interests and pursue fairness in the international arena,” said the Guyanese Foreign Minister.

Colombia has already dispatched a protest note to Caracas against Venezuela’s purported annexation of the coastal waters off its western neighbour.

Venezuela 60 years ago revived its claim to the mineral and forest-rich Essequibo Region, but Guyana has consistently maintained that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award is the full and final settlement of the land border between the two neighbouring South American nations.

Guyana’s President David Granger, who has already stated that he wants the United Nations (UN) to settle the matter judicially in keeping with its Charter, is expected to meet with the UN Chief Ban Ki Moon in Barbados on the margins of the Caricom summit. “We have to deal with this problem once and for all in a judicial way, in a judicial manner and we are going to the United Nations and whatever the cost is take it to settlement so that future generations are not festered with this from our western neighbour,” Granger told business leaders here.

The President’s office on Wednesday announced that a high-level team from American oil giant, ExxonMobil, met with top government officials earlier this week and assured that exploration work offshore Guyana would continue despite Venezuela’s recent decree.

Guyana intends to present a dossier of instances to the Caricom summit to show a pattern of Venezuela’s aggression to buttress its claim to Essequibo.

The most recent was back in 2013 when Venezuela’s Navy intercepted a Malaysia-owned seismic research vessel that had been conducting work in a concession offshore Guyana on behalf of the Texas, United States-headquartered Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribnewsdesk.com/news/10251-venezuela-s-maritime-claim-impacts-on-the-wider-caribbean-greenidge