GUYANA | Opposition says PPP Foreign Policy is nebulous, incoherent, fleeting and transactional !

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, February 14, 2022 - Guyana’s Opposition spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Amanza Walton Desir is not comfortable with the administration’s foreign policy, describing it as nebulous, incoherent, fleeting and transactional.

Making her contribution to the 2022 budget debate in parliament, the APNU+AFC coalition representative, extended her characterization of the administration’s 2021 budget as vapid, vacuous and visionless to the current reality.

As evidence of this, she has pointed to incidents where “We have seen Guyana stumble and our reputation severely tarnished on the international stage. From a senior official having difficulty pronouncing simple two syllable words and another gaffing about orgasms, important policy announcements emanating from a foreign embassy instead of Takuba Lodge and ships on the high seas flying our national flag and engaging in all manner of illegal activities including trafficking ammunition and trading in embargoed crude.”

She told Parliament: “Mr. Speaker, this most recent embarrassment of rogue vessels flying our Golden Arrowhead has dire implications for us as a nation and for our relationship with our allies. This Administration continues to demonstrate their incompetence to conduct our foreign affairs, maintain law and order and meet the obligation of international treaties to which we are party.

“Their attempts to distance themselves from this debacle is indicative of their lack of appreciation of our responsibility as a State Party to international agreements. The Government clearly does not understand that whilst a particular function might be delegated, the responsibility Guyana assumes can never be.”

She pointed out that: “Recently, there was the arbitrary recall of a number of senior, seasoned foreign service officials from postings around the world. These officers have now been by and large replaced with junior officers and without enough of an overlap time to allow for these junior officers to be properly mentored and oriented resulting in confusion and a lack of leadership at many of our diplomatic missions abroad.” 

The foreign affairs spokesperson informed that the: “APNU-AFC while in office established the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service and re-established the Foreign Service Institute in order to educate a corps of competent and professional diplomats and public servants well prepared to advance the national interest.

“Immediately on entering office the PPP scrapped the Public Service College and I look forward to hearing from the Honorable Minister on the exact amount allocated to the Foreign Service Institute for the training of our diplomats.”

“Since August 2, 2020, this nation’s foreign policy has been conducted with great contempt for the people. The people’s representatives are never briefed on these matters. The visiting dignitaries are not given the opportunity to meet with the opposition. Deals are signed and nobody knows what is contained in those agreements. Everything is opaque and secretive,” she said.

Turning to one area where “there is no distance between the government and the political opposition,” Walton-Desir said  Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity remain sacrosanct, and denounced Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory in the Essequibo region.

“We reaffirm that the border claim by Venezuela is opportunistic, it is mischievous, it is without merit, and we are confident that Guyana will be vindicated,” Walton Desir said.

She urged the government to  focus on deepening relations with the Member States of the Caribbean Community, and urged the government to give more meaning to the Caricom Single Market and Economy, CSME.

“We must guard against exuberance and eschewing our regional integration principles because we are now an oil producing nation. We should stick steadfastly to the principles which led to the creation of CARICOM,” she noted..

“Again, in the absence of a consistent policy on regional integration, we continue to sail along like a rudderless ship. Today, we demand visas for our Haitian brothers and sisters and direct undiplomatic language to Trinidad and tomorrow, we talk of deepening relations with Caricom member states. There is no consistency and a posture rooted in clearly defined principles.”

“The record will show: we supported the passage of the legislation to strengthen the CSME, we hold the view that the Caribbean Single Market and Economy is about the people of this region and in that regard, our support is unwavering.

“We believe that CARICOM is central to advancing our territorial interests. Talks of leaving the Caribbean Community should consider our border dispute. Caricom leaders have consistently come to our defense and have directly intervened to resolve issues between Guyana and Venezuela,” Walton Desir declared.

“Mr. Speaker in September of 2020 I cautioned that “Guyana has gained much by establishing itself as a reliable partner in regional and hemispheric stability, and that it would be unwise Mr. Speaker for us to depart from this form of diplomacy”, that caution remains,” the Opposition spokesperson concluded.

In the meantime, Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd says with the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it has jurisdiction to hear Guyana’s case seeking the validating of the 1899 arbitral award establishing the boundary with Venezuela, Guyana is working to make its submissions by March 8.

The foreign minister said the budgetary allocation is sufficient for his ministry as Guyana will continue to be a responsible member of the international community.

“While we are committed to expanding and further enhancing Guyana’s bilateral partnerships with critically important partner states, the government also believes that regional integration, both in the Caribbean and Latin-America, must be a vital component of a comprehensive, strategic foreign policy agenda,” Todd said.

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