Harper accuses Granger of exploiting Guyana/Venezuela controversy for “political gain”

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Former Ambassador General and now Prime Ministerial Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Elisabeth Harper has fired back at the Presidential Candidate of the APNU+AFC coalition over comments that were made regarding the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy.

David Granger during a recent appearance on Hard Talk had said that the stance adopted by the PPP/C administration with respect to the border controversy was “weak.”

Guyana has an ongoing argument with the Nicholas Maduro led country over its claims to the Essequibo Region.

Granger was critical of the government’s actions in the dispute during the radio interview pointing out that the government’s response to infractions on the part of Venezuela were not “robust enough.”

However, Harper in a Facebook post in response to Granger said, “This is nothing but the exploitation of a key national issue for narrow political gain. Mr Granger himself had supported the actions of the Government in relation to those very violations and threats from neighboring Venezuela. To describe Guyana’s actions as weak when we were able to garner the public support of the Caribbean Community and the Commonwealth can be nothing but dishonest.”

The usually reserved Prime Ministerial Candidate pointed out that while Granger spoke of other options opened to the government failed to say what he would have done differently had he been President.

“Any Government led by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic will not play politics with Guyana’s most important asset, its territory. In fact, utterances like those of Mr. Granger are what make us appear weak because such a stance demonstrates disunity in regard to the protection of our national patrimony when it is unity of purpose and action that is required at all time,” said Harper.