Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has dismissed claims made by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Oppositions that scores of Venezuelans are being registered in Guyana with the aim of thwarting the 2025 elections.
According to Jagdeo during a press conference on Thursday approximately 13,600 persons have been registered by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from January to date during the continuous registration cycles.
However, he noted that based on the regional breakdown, there is nothing to suggest that flocks of Venezuelans are being registered.
“We don’t see any evidence of this here in the actual registrations that are taking place in the country. It’s false,” the Vice President contended.
Jagdeo noted that even Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton could not have provided any evidence or figures when he was questioned about their claims.
During a joint press conference with AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan on Tuesday, Norton, who is also the APNU Leader, expressed concerns over the possibility that the PPP/C is seeking to register the Venezuelans, who have fled harsh living conditions in their country to seek betterment in Guyana so that they can vote at the 2025 elections.
But VP Jagdeo reminded the Opposition politicians that many of the Venezuelans coming here are persons who are either Guyanese-born or are of Guyanese heritage, which are grounds for them to receive citizenship.
Nevertheless, the PPP/C General Secretary explained that while the opposition concerns are justified about the droves of Venezuelans with no connection to Guyana coming here, he is of the view that Norton’s recent remarks are embedded in the fact that the Opposition already knows their fate at the 2025 and is using the Venezuelans as an excuse.
“So, clearly their concern is a valid one but the way it’s portrayed by Norton as though the Venezuelans are being exploited and we’re bringing them here in droves for electoral advantage is nonsense. It’s pure nonsense and it’s just a lame excuse for what they already expect in 2025, which is losing the elections,” he posited.
Dangerous situation
On the other hand, the Vice President highlighted the dangers that the Opposition’s statements pose to Guyana especially at this point in time when tension has been on the rise with Venezuela. He posited that there needs to be some form of maturity by the Opposition leadership.
“We need to keep the national solidarity on this matter and therefore, nothing should be done to undermine it,” Jagdeo stated.
Only this week, Guyana was forced to bring the international community’s attention to reports on social media of increased Venezuelan military activity at Guyana’s borders.
While Venezuela has attributed this to their efforts to curb illegal mining, the Guyana Government said every report of the heightened military exercise by the Spanish-speaking nation is taken seriously and that the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) has been reviewing these reports.
The reports have suggested that the Venezuelan military has been conducting exercises at Eteringbang, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and has been on the move with pieces of their equipment.
The government made it clear that Venezuela’s increased military activities close to the border, have been reported to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government and other international partners.
For its part, the parliamentary opposition through shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Amanza Walton Desir has issued a call on Foreign Minister Hugh Todd, to convene an urgent meeting of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations, so that members could be briefed on the development.
Last month, Venezuela issued a communique that threatened Guyana and protested against Guyana’s efforts to auction its oil blocks, even though all the blocks are in Guyana’s sovereign territory.
This has led to President Dr. Irfaan Ali issuing a stern response while also noting that he has updated Speaker of the House, Manzoor Nadir, as well as Norton on the matter.
Currently, Guyana has a pending case against Venezuela before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a final and binding ruling on the October 3, 1899 Arbitral Award to settle the long-standing border controversy between the two neighbours.
Venezuela is laying claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, which is in Essequibo, and a portion of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in which almost 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past eight years and oil production activities are ongoing offshore.
