APNU, AFC voice national security, electoral fears about influx of Venezuelans

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 October 2023, 21:20 by Denis Chabrol

Worried about a “soft invasion” of Guyana and eventual annexation of the Essequibo Region by Venezuela, the opposition People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) on Tuesday called on government to screen Venezuelan “refugees”.

“Should they become a majority in any sizeable area of our territory, Guyana could face the threat of possible annexation of these areas by Venezuela, similar to the fate of Crimea which was seized by Russia in March 2014 on the grounds that the majority of the population there is made up of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers,” Mr Norton said. A number of Venezuelans born to Guyanese parents are among those coming here to escape the socio-economic and political crisis there.

However, Leader of the PNCR and the Opposition, Aubrey Norton and AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan declined to say specifically whether they would formally write the Guyana government to request a meeting to discuss their concerns.

“I would think that we’ve made a public statement. We’ll give them some time to see their response and then we could act after that,” Mr Norton said.

“I take that approach, too, and if they do not act after a reasonable time, we certainly will take it up in Parliament, which is supposed to have the October sessions commence in a couple days’ time and we’ll take it from there, but it is an important matter of national security and electoral integrity,” Mr Ramjattan added.

Arguing that the influx and uncontrolled integration of refugees can also facilitate the placement of fifth columnists (secret spies and saboteurs) and operatives into key government, military and leadership positions both at the local and national levels “and thus achieve a soft invasion of Guyana with far-reaching implications for our security, independence and nationhood.”

Preferring to label the Venezuelans “refugees” as it would be easier to have them leave rather than if they are “migrants” who would be allowed to stay and become citizens, Mr Norton said Guyanese authorities should be wary that they could become an important voting block on their own whose party could hold the balance of power in the National Assembly. “In the last three, four elections, no political party got 10,000 above the other or 15; let’s put it even at 20,000. Imagine if you allow 20,000 Venezuelans to have a path to citizenship in Guyana and then they form a political party and then they win the balance of power, you are virtually creating vulnerabilities which we do not need to create,” said Mr Norton, a former Political Science Lecturer and former Foreign Service Officer.

Mr Norton appealed to the Guyana government to take a “nationalist approach” and not to allow large numbers of Venezuelans in Essequibo because “you are almost immediately destroying your claim.” He recommended that borders be monitored, background checks on arriving migrants to ensure that Venezuela is not sending spies. In that regard, Mr Ramjattan said Guyana was obligated to assist economic refugees and politically persecuted persons, but others who are inimical to Guyana’s security interests should not be allowed to enter Guyana. “If they are, as Aubrey mentioned, spies and militiamen that are coming in to size up our military side of things here, certainly I wouldn’t them,” he said.

The two political leaders also feared that government was facilitating the arrival of more Venezuelans and register them as Guyanese by using a loophole in the law governing birth registration by way of attestations by Justices of the Peace, Toshaos and Notaries Public so that they could obtain Guyanese national identification cards and included on the voters’ list. “The danger is compounded by the fact that the Guyana Elections Commission now conducts office-based registration without verification of residents as the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) has also removed the residency requirement from the Registration Act,” Mr Norton added. The AFC Leader said Guyana’s political stability and electoral integrity was facing “imminent danger”.

The Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Brigadier Omar Khan earlier Tuesday said social media posts were being verified and the military would alert Guyanese if necessary and at the same time execute its constitutional responsibility of defending Guyana.

Mr Ramjattan, a former Home Affairs Minister under the APNU+AFC coalition-led administration from 2015-2020, said he was aware that the intelligence about the situation at the borders was being collected and shared with the United States and other partner nations.

He said the Chief-of-Staff should subject himself to opposition parliamentary scrutiny while being mindful of the fact that there would be State secrets that could not be divulged.

The Oppositi0n Leader noted that Guyana needs to be careful that Venezuela was hatching another plan to take over Venezuela because they were aware that the International Court of Justice would reaffirm that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award fully and finally settled the land boundary between the two countries.

Tensions heightened last month after Venezuela objected to Guyana auctioning 14 of offshore oil blocks. Venezuela publicly cautioned investors that they would not recognise those deals and Guyana should have first sought permission before inviting bids as the blocks are part of its maritime zone.