MIRAMAR – Brazil, which shares borders with both Guyana and Venezuela has an important role to play in the efforts to de-escalate tensions arising from Venezuela’s recent actions towards Guyana regarding its claim to Guyana’s territory and maritime space. “Brazil has constantly sought to ensure the inviolability of South American borders which have been firmly demarcated since the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” according to Dr. Mark Kirton of the Trinidad and Tobago based Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies (UWI).
In his presentation entitled “The Guyana/Venezuela Border Issue in the Context of a Changing Hemispheric Environment” at last Thursday’s Florida Conference on Current Caribbean Issues, identified judicial settlement as the best choice for resolution of Venezuela’s claim since the United Nations Good Offices process “did not achieve significant progress over the last 25 years.”
Mechanisms for de-escalating the issue in the short term, he said, should include multilateral arrangements such as the OAS, CELAC and UNASUR “since the judicial process can take considerable time.” Dr Kirton also presented the view that second track diplomacy was also an important element since business/private sector, the academic community ,NGOs and civil society could develop mechanisms for consensus building and assist in de-escalating the tensions which have emerged .
It was also Dr. Kirton’s view that a sustained public information and sensitization campaign both In Guyana and internationally was a critical mechanism to ensure that the citizenry and international community were fully aware of Guyana’s position . In this regard Dr. Kirton advocated a strong role for Guyana diasporic community and recommenced that every effort be made to inform the global community . He also called for increased domestic and international investment in the Essequibo region so as to fully utilize Guyana’s territorial space for national development .
Speakers at the conference with guest-of-honor and keynote speaker the Honorable Carl Greenidge
