EDITORIAL: Hope for a peaceful resolution
Five former Caribbean Prime Ministers, while calling for the region to be a zone of peace, would have made a very plausible suggestion in that aid to Venezuela should be handled through the United Nations and not what is being proposed by outside forces hostile to Venezuela. Currently, regional governments have given their position on the situation in Venezuela while calling for the non interference in the affairs of that country and recommending that diplomacy be given a chance to work in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the crisis. So, that when Owen Arthur of Barbados, Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda, Dr. Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia, P.J. Patterson of Jamaica, and Said Mousa of Belize made a case along similar lines as that of governments, they in a nutshell are giving legitimacy to the position put forward by the governments.
The five former Prime Ministers made it clear that they are concerned about events in Venezuela and expressed great disquiet about the events and the prospects of any action that is inconsistent with the principles of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the South American country. “In this connection, we are concerned that no action be taken that would jeopardize those fundamental principles,” said the five former Prime Ministers in a letter.
From early days continuing up the 20th century, the Caribbean has seen a number of conflicts either as a result of the desire for land grabbing by the European powers, boundaries disputes by states, and interventions to put down governments which were deemed as socialist or not too friendly with the great power to the North. If the Caribbean is thought to include those Central American and South American states that have long Caribbean coastlines, then the conflicts have become more pronounced. The point though is that whatever may be the origins of these events, they have tended to disrupt people’s lives and cause a mass exodus of people to be uprooted from their homelands and migrate to other countries. Such events have brought pain and suffering to people whose only desire is to live in peace.
The Caribbean has had a very long and fruitful association with Venezuela by way of trade, and financial support benefiting from its petro dollars since Venezuela is a non-borrowing member of the Caribbean Development Bank. It is very close to Trinidad and Tobago, shares a border with Guyana and many of it citizens have cooperated with Barbados. It is natural therefore for this region to want the best for Venezuela. The Venezuelan crisis has been simmering for years, but has now reached the point of a more intensive campaign for the ouster of the country’s President. Over the weekend there were reports that attempts to get humanitarian supplies cross the border of neighboring states and then into Venezuela were blocked. The five Caribbean leaders believe that the United Nations should be tasked with getting the supplies into Venezuela since it is a respected institution with no political axes to grind.
This and other initiatives must feature if there is to be a peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela. Our wish is for the situation there to be settled without creating more problems for the people of that country.