Georgetown- Former Ambassador to Venezuela Dr. Odean Ishmael early this year indicated that ever since the inception of PetroCaribe in 2005, Guyana has remained firmly committed to the agreement. This staunch assertion flies in the face of urgings from some analysts in the Caribbean region who opine that Venezuela would be unable to sustain the program of providing concessionary oil to countries in the region due to its current economic crisis and the recent drop in international oil prices. They, therefore, suggest that Caribbean countries, including Guyana, should not place much reliance on it. This position was also adopted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which in November 2014 claimed that four Caricom countries (Belize, Haiti, Jamaica and Guyana) had begun to take steps to reduce their dependency on PetroCaribe oil. But many are concerns that this will happen sooner than later with Venezuela ongoing claim to the west Essequibo.
In a statement issued recently, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically stated that it rejects the sounding tenor and false statements issued in the News of the new Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana dated 7 June that constitutes a provocation and threatens the Bolivarian peace diplomacy.
It is unacceptable that the new Government of Guyana assume this position with a territory that is subject to controversy, and is also expressly recognized that this sea area is subject to the amicable settlement of the territorial claims, as envisaged in the Geneva Agreement.
The territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana dates back more than a century when the product of colonial and imperial compromises, emptied our country of a vast territory subject since then to claim. This illegality of origin, Venezuela maintains its position to consider null and void the Arbitral Award of 1899, and calls on the new Government of Guyana to stay in the regulatory framework of the Geneva Agreement.
Guyana’s debt to PetroCaribe is paid in paddy and rice as settlement for oil from Venezuela. Under this arrangement, three compensation agreements signed with Venezuela resulted in the cancellation of US$281.1 million of Guyana’s oil debt. This amount was equivalent to the value of rice and paddy exported to Venezuela from July 2011 to October 2013.
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