Guyana Will Resist Venezuela’s Identification Cards In Essequibo

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Guyana says it will resist any plans by Venezuela to issue residents in Essequibo with identification cards, as the war of words linked to the territorial dispute between the two countries continued unabated.

“We will stoutly resist any effort to have our people issued with cards and things like that, and whatever we need to do as a nation to ensure that we are not distracted in any way from our path of development, we are going to do it,” said Minister of State Joseph Harmon, without providing details.

Head of Venezuela’s Office for the Rescue of the Essequibo, Retired Army Col. Pompey Torrealba Rivero, said, efforts would soon be made to issue Venezuelan identification cards to an estimated 200,000 people born in Essequibo.

He also disclosed that plans are afoot to embark on a campaign to educate Guyanese that Venezuela belongs to Guyanese.

But Harmon, who is in Antigua, said Guyana has already issued its nationals with identification cards and they have already elected representatives to the 65-seat National Assembly and the 10 Regional Administrative Councils, several of which such as Regions 1,2,7,8 and 9 are part of Essequibo.

Labelling Venezuela’s claim unjust, irrational and outrageous, Harmon said government has been engaged in a public awareness campaign to educate Guyanese about Caracas’ geographical and economic aggression against the small State of Guyana.

“What we are doing is educating the Guyanese people at home that all of Guyana- 83,000 square miles, 216,000 square kilometers- belong to them, and that the Essequibo is no different from Demerara or Berbice. It is one State and it is one country, and therefore any effort or any attempt by anyone to violate the integrity of that State, as a nation we will have to stand up for it.”

Harmon noted that since coming to power, President David Granger has engaged the international community, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations on Guyana’s position on the border controversy.

Guyana maintains that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award represents a full, final and perfect settlement of the land border controversy.

Since Venezuela’s unilateral extension of its maritime boundary to include the Atlantic waters off the Essequibo Region, Guyana has reiterated that the United Nations mediation process has not been working and that time has come to settle the controversy at the World Court.