Guyana’s Continental Destiny
A Vision to be Embraced and Transformed
by Paul N. Tennassee
PREAMBLE: This article was written nearly a decade ago. The floods on the coast have awakened Guyanese to the urgent need to begin to think about moving our population into the interior and establishing a new capital in a more suitable location. Since this article was written, the PPP administration has signed trade and cooperation agreements with Venezuela and Brazil. President Jagdeo represented Guyana at the launching of the South American Community of Nations. Recently, the President of Brazil visited Guyana and promised assistance and committed himself to infrastructural projects. President Chavez has removed objections to foreign investments in the Essequibo. He also visited Guyana. Negatively, the Colombian drug cartels have penetrated the landspace. There is a new context and great possibilities. The time is now for establishing the GUYANA-ESSEQUIBO CORPORATION!
Introduction
Guyana presently celebrates its thirtieth year (1996) of formal political independence. This nation-state is among the poorest in the hemisphere. It is located geographically in South America but is isolated on the continent. It seems as if poverty has paralyzed the minds of its citizens and has become all-pervasive within the society. The government constantly reminds all that the burden of the foreign debt is unbearable and that the State has no money. The exodus of the population continues unabated in spite of the fact that there is a new administration. Prospects for the future critically depend on the country’s “unrealized potential”. This, however, has to be developed before the majority of the citizens migrate.
As far back as 1500, Pinzon the “discoverer” of the mouth of the Amazon, and Raleigh in 1595, heard about and pursued this potential in the myth of El Dorado. It was, however, the Dutch in the late 16th Century and subsequently the British who pursued the transformation of the myth into wealth. In the process, there has been a permanent geographical shift to the Coast. Over 400 years of colonialism and political independence saw increasing dependence on rice, sugar, bauxite and, in more recent times, gold and forestry. This record is certainly not impressive and underscores very limited success. Guyana will only go forward when its people become empowered and there is a rupture with the economic monotony of the past and present. There is urgent need for new initiatives and a breakthrough.
A recent study of the World Bank argues that Guyana is wealthier than Trinidad & Tobago. When the country’s natural capital is considered, Guyanese have the potential to maximize their income on a per capita basis to the tune of ninety thousand US dollars. Therefore, there is a concrete basis for developing and promoting a vision for prosperity. It requires that citizens be engaged in transforming the myth of El Dorado into reality by experimenting with creative initiatives. At this time, serious consideration ought to be given to the proposal of fulfilling Guyana’s Continental Destiny.
Continental Destiny
There used to be a widespread perception that Guyana is located either in the Caribbean or somewhere in Anglophone Africa. It was not until the Jonestown tragedy and the intensive international campaigns carried out by various political parties for Free and Fair Elections that the global community, at least in Europe and the Americas, became better informed as to its correct geographical location.
Historically, Guyana has been identified with the English speaking Caribbean. This is further reinforced with the location of CARICOM headquarters in Guyana. One would have thought that over the last thirty years Guyana would have used its strategic location to penetrate Latin America and by now would have become the Dean of Latin American Affairs. One would have thought that Guyana acquiring such expertise might have emerged not only as a senior adviser to other Caribbean and even Afro-Asian nation states, but definitely a leader in the forefront of an overall consistent thrust into the continent. The late Forbes Burnham played around with the idea when he invited West Indians to join Guyanese in cutting a pathway through the jungle to Brazil and invited Jim Jones to set up a socialist, religious commune in the hinterland. He even spoke about moving the capital to Matthews Ridge in the Essequibo. But like most of Burnham’s ideas, this darted about like phosphorous on water and evaporated. Today, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and to a lesser extent Barbados, have emerged as the leaders within CARICOM in the continental thrust forward.
There are, nevertheless, factors which can explain Guyana’s snail’s pace advance into the continent. The visions and thinking of the leadership of Guyana’s traditional political parties, by circumstances and choice, were biased towards a London/ Washington axis or Moscow.
The population is historically tied to the coast and the people have failed to influence the formulation and implementation of a serious strategy and policy to occupy and develop the heartland of the Essequibo. The jungle between the coastlands and the borders of Brazil and Venezuela is immense. It appears inaccessible and inhabitable. In spite of this, over the last two decades, thousands of Guyanese have migrated to border towns in Brazil and Venezuela. At the same time, numerous Brazilian and Venezuelan “garimpeiros” enter the Essequibo landspace in search of gold and diamond. Another barrier is the Spanish and Portuguese languages.
The most important obstacle and influential factor is the border dispute with Venezuela. On the eve of political independence in 1966, former President of Guyana, the late Forbes Burnham, affixed his signature to a document in Geneva which reopened the controversy over territory. The controversy was resolved in an international Court since 1899. Implicitly, if not explicitly, his signature committed Guyana to negotiate Venezuela’s claim to virtually 2/3 of its landspace. The border problem became a citizen’s nightmare. Burnham compounded his error by converting the problem into a political football, a race issue between what he called “white” Venezuela and non-white Guyana, and effectively used the dispute to militarize the country and intensify internal repression. In 1969, he announced on the radio that Venezuela was about to invade. One decade later, he sold war bonds in preparation for a war which never occurred. Burnham used his influence in CARICOM Caribbean to obtain solidarity, and, to some extent, slowed the pace in Caribbean/Latin American relations. The late Dr. Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago added fuel to the fire when, at one of his party’s conferences, he accused Venezuela of nurturing ambitions to colonize the Caribbean. Ironically, this did not prevent Williams from appealing to Venezuela for assistance during the black power uprising, or of playing the role of intermediary in brokering an agreement between Guyana and Venezuela. The Protocol of Port of Spain in 1972 froze the dispute for twelve years.
In 1981, Burnham visited the then newly elected president of Venezuela, Luis Herrera Campins. Talks regarding the renewal of the Protocol of Port of Spain collapsed. Diplomacy was replaced with verbal confrontations. Burnham died in 1985 and his successor, H. D. Hoyte, embarked on personal diplomacy. Hoyte met informally with Presidents Luscinchi and Carlos Andres Perez on various occasions. There was an agreement for an electricity project in the Upper Mazaruni which would have provided a service not only for Guyana but also Suriname. On election to office of the PPP/Jagan administration, the issue of national security emerged.
In1996), relations with Venezuela once more became a sore point as the political opposition and national media raised a number of questions regarding the manner in which the Jagan administration was dealing with the border dispute.
New Initiative
It is in Guyana’s interest to resolve the border problem. It is irrational not to give priority to the Latin American market. Asia, Europe, North American and South Africa are implementing strategies to penetrate this second fastest growing region within the global economy. The three Latin American economies closest to Guyana are the Brazilian, Colombian and Venezuelan (BCV). The combined population of these countries is 214,596,000. Their combined landscape is 10,597,472 square kilometers. Guyana’s population is 825,000 and its landspace covers 214,970 square kilometers. Guyana is in a unique geographical location to` seek membership in MERCOSUR and the Andean Pact and still remain within CARICOM and the ACS. Why doesn’t Guyana negotiate a free trade agreement with Venezuela and Brazil similar to the one which exists between Colombia and Venezuela? Considering the size of Guyana’s population, the capture of niche markets can make a remarkable difference in the country’s economic life. There is great potential to promote joint ventures for small and medium sized industries and to attract significant investments from the BCV republics. The fact that these countries are less developed than the G7 countries facilitates easier penetration. Additionally, adequate transportation will reduce costs and make imports and exports more competitive.
The fulfillment of Guyana’s Continental Destiny can be achieved if it goes beyond diplomatic and trade agreements. There has to be a conscious effort, by government, private sector and population as a whole. This continental destiny resides in the creation of a new Pole of Development. Guyanese can learn from a very instructive experience in the State of Bolivar in Venezuela which borders part of the Essequibo. The Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) was formed and mandated to construct a city at the confluence of the Orinoco and Caroni Rivers; support pro-actively the development of the bauxite, aluminum, iron ore and steel industries; oversee the construction of the Guri Hydroelectric Dam and establish the major infrastructural work. The CVG did not restrict itself to fulfilling this mandate successfully but assumed responsibility for the social services. Ciudad Guayana is a city constructed in the heart of what was once a jungle. It is one of the newest cities in Venezuela and Latin America. Guyana may not be able to reproduce the experience but one can learn from the example.
It is advisable that a “GUYANA-ESSEQUIBO CORPORATION” be established. The Guyana government and private sector should be a major shareholders. Simultaneously, a core group should be brought together by inviting the participation of the governments and private sectors from Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. Subsequently, the corporation should invite participation of investors from the rest of the world. The corporation should be mandated to promote mining, forestry and eco-tourism and to establish two free trade zones (possibly at Lethem and Matthews Ridge), to develop the infrastructural work to ensure easy access to Venezuela and Brazil, and to build a new city (El Dorado) with a view, over the long run, to relocating the capital. Guyana should not only restrict itself to Brazil and Venezuela but should also seek access to all republics on the continent.
Brazil and Venezuela should be the springboard. Guyana should define for itself a role as a transshipment point for goods into and out of South America. It is advisable that free trade agreements be sought with either India and/or China and South Africa. The agreements should be conditioned to a commitment that those countries invest in a railway system from the coast to the location of El Dorado. In this manner, South American business can use Guyana to access Asian, African and even North American, European and ACS markets. Conversely, the Asians and Africans would be able to access South American markets through Guyana. The Asian market encompasses the fastest growing economies in the world. It is interesting to note that in a publication entitled “Trade Focus on Latin America” published by the India Trade Promotion Organization, information was compiled on South American countries for the Indian private sector with the purpose of encouraging them to trade and invest in South America. Guyana was not mentioned. Panama and Trinidad and Tobago had prominence. This demonstrates India’s interest in South America and once more Guyana’s weakness in calling attention to itself as an important, potentially strategic South American republic.
Immediately next to the Essequibo are two Brazilian States, Roraima and Amazonas. They are moving forward and are building strategic alliances in trade with Venezuela’s dynamic State of Bolivar. Amazonas has a Free Trade Zone and Roraima is planning to establish one. The Guri Electric Project will be giving electricity to the north of Brazil. In 1995, one hundred Venezuelans and Brazilians met next to their borders, at Santa Elena de Uiaren, to discuss the removal of obstacles to trade. Subsequently, over 100 Brazilian business people visited the State of Bolivar on a trade mission and conducted US $3 million in business during the mission. Once more, Guyana is being left behind. The CVG had, in its program, a trade mission to Guyana last year, but it was never realized. Guyana has to take the “bull by the horns.”
Conclusion
Now is the time to proclaim and initiate the transformation of the vision of “Guyana’s Continental Destiny”. This project when implemented will guarantee Guyana’s viability as a nation-state and secure the future of new generations in the 21st century. It is only when Guyana embarks on this kind of initiative that its people will cede the vision of poverty to a vision of prosperity.
This is a challenge not only for the government of the day, but also the private sector, all socio-political, civic organizations, and the entire population. Is this not a project for nation-building? Indeed it is thirty years late, but it is “better late than never”. This is an opportunity to effect a rupture with a past of isolation and “unutilized potential”. As significant numbers of Guyanese desperately seek a way out to North America, others must fund a way in for Guyana into South America.
A Vision to be Embraced and Transformed
by Paul N. Tennassee
PREAMBLE: This article was written nearly a decade ago. The floods on the coast have awakened Guyanese to the urgent need to begin to think about moving our population into the interior and establishing a new capital in a more suitable location. Since this article was written, the PPP administration has signed trade and cooperation agreements with Venezuela and Brazil. President Jagdeo represented Guyana at the launching of the South American Community of Nations. Recently, the President of Brazil visited Guyana and promised assistance and committed himself to infrastructural projects. President Chavez has removed objections to foreign investments in the Essequibo. He also visited Guyana. Negatively, the Colombian drug cartels have penetrated the landspace. There is a new context and great possibilities. The time is now for establishing the GUYANA-ESSEQUIBO CORPORATION!
Introduction
Guyana presently celebrates its thirtieth year (1996) of formal political independence. This nation-state is among the poorest in the hemisphere. It is located geographically in South America but is isolated on the continent. It seems as if poverty has paralyzed the minds of its citizens and has become all-pervasive within the society. The government constantly reminds all that the burden of the foreign debt is unbearable and that the State has no money. The exodus of the population continues unabated in spite of the fact that there is a new administration. Prospects for the future critically depend on the country’s “unrealized potential”. This, however, has to be developed before the majority of the citizens migrate.
As far back as 1500, Pinzon the “discoverer” of the mouth of the Amazon, and Raleigh in 1595, heard about and pursued this potential in the myth of El Dorado. It was, however, the Dutch in the late 16th Century and subsequently the British who pursued the transformation of the myth into wealth. In the process, there has been a permanent geographical shift to the Coast. Over 400 years of colonialism and political independence saw increasing dependence on rice, sugar, bauxite and, in more recent times, gold and forestry. This record is certainly not impressive and underscores very limited success. Guyana will only go forward when its people become empowered and there is a rupture with the economic monotony of the past and present. There is urgent need for new initiatives and a breakthrough.
A recent study of the World Bank argues that Guyana is wealthier than Trinidad & Tobago. When the country’s natural capital is considered, Guyanese have the potential to maximize their income on a per capita basis to the tune of ninety thousand US dollars. Therefore, there is a concrete basis for developing and promoting a vision for prosperity. It requires that citizens be engaged in transforming the myth of El Dorado into reality by experimenting with creative initiatives. At this time, serious consideration ought to be given to the proposal of fulfilling Guyana’s Continental Destiny.
Continental Destiny
There used to be a widespread perception that Guyana is located either in the Caribbean or somewhere in Anglophone Africa. It was not until the Jonestown tragedy and the intensive international campaigns carried out by various political parties for Free and Fair Elections that the global community, at least in Europe and the Americas, became better informed as to its correct geographical location.
Historically, Guyana has been identified with the English speaking Caribbean. This is further reinforced with the location of CARICOM headquarters in Guyana. One would have thought that over the last thirty years Guyana would have used its strategic location to penetrate Latin America and by now would have become the Dean of Latin American Affairs. One would have thought that Guyana acquiring such expertise might have emerged not only as a senior adviser to other Caribbean and even Afro-Asian nation states, but definitely a leader in the forefront of an overall consistent thrust into the continent. The late Forbes Burnham played around with the idea when he invited West Indians to join Guyanese in cutting a pathway through the jungle to Brazil and invited Jim Jones to set up a socialist, religious commune in the hinterland. He even spoke about moving the capital to Matthews Ridge in the Essequibo. But like most of Burnham’s ideas, this darted about like phosphorous on water and evaporated. Today, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and to a lesser extent Barbados, have emerged as the leaders within CARICOM in the continental thrust forward.
There are, nevertheless, factors which can explain Guyana’s snail’s pace advance into the continent. The visions and thinking of the leadership of Guyana’s traditional political parties, by circumstances and choice, were biased towards a London/ Washington axis or Moscow.
The population is historically tied to the coast and the people have failed to influence the formulation and implementation of a serious strategy and policy to occupy and develop the heartland of the Essequibo. The jungle between the coastlands and the borders of Brazil and Venezuela is immense. It appears inaccessible and inhabitable. In spite of this, over the last two decades, thousands of Guyanese have migrated to border towns in Brazil and Venezuela. At the same time, numerous Brazilian and Venezuelan “garimpeiros” enter the Essequibo landspace in search of gold and diamond. Another barrier is the Spanish and Portuguese languages.
The most important obstacle and influential factor is the border dispute with Venezuela. On the eve of political independence in 1966, former President of Guyana, the late Forbes Burnham, affixed his signature to a document in Geneva which reopened the controversy over territory. The controversy was resolved in an international Court since 1899. Implicitly, if not explicitly, his signature committed Guyana to negotiate Venezuela’s claim to virtually 2/3 of its landspace. The border problem became a citizen’s nightmare. Burnham compounded his error by converting the problem into a political football, a race issue between what he called “white” Venezuela and non-white Guyana, and effectively used the dispute to militarize the country and intensify internal repression. In 1969, he announced on the radio that Venezuela was about to invade. One decade later, he sold war bonds in preparation for a war which never occurred. Burnham used his influence in CARICOM Caribbean to obtain solidarity, and, to some extent, slowed the pace in Caribbean/Latin American relations. The late Dr. Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago added fuel to the fire when, at one of his party’s conferences, he accused Venezuela of nurturing ambitions to colonize the Caribbean. Ironically, this did not prevent Williams from appealing to Venezuela for assistance during the black power uprising, or of playing the role of intermediary in brokering an agreement between Guyana and Venezuela. The Protocol of Port of Spain in 1972 froze the dispute for twelve years.
In 1981, Burnham visited the then newly elected president of Venezuela, Luis Herrera Campins. Talks regarding the renewal of the Protocol of Port of Spain collapsed. Diplomacy was replaced with verbal confrontations. Burnham died in 1985 and his successor, H. D. Hoyte, embarked on personal diplomacy. Hoyte met informally with Presidents Luscinchi and Carlos Andres Perez on various occasions. There was an agreement for an electricity project in the Upper Mazaruni which would have provided a service not only for Guyana but also Suriname. On election to office of the PPP/Jagan administration, the issue of national security emerged.
In1996), relations with Venezuela once more became a sore point as the political opposition and national media raised a number of questions regarding the manner in which the Jagan administration was dealing with the border dispute.
New Initiative
It is in Guyana’s interest to resolve the border problem. It is irrational not to give priority to the Latin American market. Asia, Europe, North American and South Africa are implementing strategies to penetrate this second fastest growing region within the global economy. The three Latin American economies closest to Guyana are the Brazilian, Colombian and Venezuelan (BCV). The combined population of these countries is 214,596,000. Their combined landscape is 10,597,472 square kilometers. Guyana’s population is 825,000 and its landspace covers 214,970 square kilometers. Guyana is in a unique geographical location to` seek membership in MERCOSUR and the Andean Pact and still remain within CARICOM and the ACS. Why doesn’t Guyana negotiate a free trade agreement with Venezuela and Brazil similar to the one which exists between Colombia and Venezuela? Considering the size of Guyana’s population, the capture of niche markets can make a remarkable difference in the country’s economic life. There is great potential to promote joint ventures for small and medium sized industries and to attract significant investments from the BCV republics. The fact that these countries are less developed than the G7 countries facilitates easier penetration. Additionally, adequate transportation will reduce costs and make imports and exports more competitive.
The fulfillment of Guyana’s Continental Destiny can be achieved if it goes beyond diplomatic and trade agreements. There has to be a conscious effort, by government, private sector and population as a whole. This continental destiny resides in the creation of a new Pole of Development. Guyanese can learn from a very instructive experience in the State of Bolivar in Venezuela which borders part of the Essequibo. The Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) was formed and mandated to construct a city at the confluence of the Orinoco and Caroni Rivers; support pro-actively the development of the bauxite, aluminum, iron ore and steel industries; oversee the construction of the Guri Hydroelectric Dam and establish the major infrastructural work. The CVG did not restrict itself to fulfilling this mandate successfully but assumed responsibility for the social services. Ciudad Guayana is a city constructed in the heart of what was once a jungle. It is one of the newest cities in Venezuela and Latin America. Guyana may not be able to reproduce the experience but one can learn from the example.
It is advisable that a “GUYANA-ESSEQUIBO CORPORATION” be established. The Guyana government and private sector should be a major shareholders. Simultaneously, a core group should be brought together by inviting the participation of the governments and private sectors from Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. Subsequently, the corporation should invite participation of investors from the rest of the world. The corporation should be mandated to promote mining, forestry and eco-tourism and to establish two free trade zones (possibly at Lethem and Matthews Ridge), to develop the infrastructural work to ensure easy access to Venezuela and Brazil, and to build a new city (El Dorado) with a view, over the long run, to relocating the capital. Guyana should not only restrict itself to Brazil and Venezuela but should also seek access to all republics on the continent.
Brazil and Venezuela should be the springboard. Guyana should define for itself a role as a transshipment point for goods into and out of South America. It is advisable that free trade agreements be sought with either India and/or China and South Africa. The agreements should be conditioned to a commitment that those countries invest in a railway system from the coast to the location of El Dorado. In this manner, South American business can use Guyana to access Asian, African and even North American, European and ACS markets. Conversely, the Asians and Africans would be able to access South American markets through Guyana. The Asian market encompasses the fastest growing economies in the world. It is interesting to note that in a publication entitled “Trade Focus on Latin America” published by the India Trade Promotion Organization, information was compiled on South American countries for the Indian private sector with the purpose of encouraging them to trade and invest in South America. Guyana was not mentioned. Panama and Trinidad and Tobago had prominence. This demonstrates India’s interest in South America and once more Guyana’s weakness in calling attention to itself as an important, potentially strategic South American republic.
Immediately next to the Essequibo are two Brazilian States, Roraima and Amazonas. They are moving forward and are building strategic alliances in trade with Venezuela’s dynamic State of Bolivar. Amazonas has a Free Trade Zone and Roraima is planning to establish one. The Guri Electric Project will be giving electricity to the north of Brazil. In 1995, one hundred Venezuelans and Brazilians met next to their borders, at Santa Elena de Uiaren, to discuss the removal of obstacles to trade. Subsequently, over 100 Brazilian business people visited the State of Bolivar on a trade mission and conducted US $3 million in business during the mission. Once more, Guyana is being left behind. The CVG had, in its program, a trade mission to Guyana last year, but it was never realized. Guyana has to take the “bull by the horns.”
Conclusion
Now is the time to proclaim and initiate the transformation of the vision of “Guyana’s Continental Destiny”. This project when implemented will guarantee Guyana’s viability as a nation-state and secure the future of new generations in the 21st century. It is only when Guyana embarks on this kind of initiative that its people will cede the vision of poverty to a vision of prosperity.
This is a challenge not only for the government of the day, but also the private sector, all socio-political, civic organizations, and the entire population. Is this not a project for nation-building? Indeed it is thirty years late, but it is “better late than never”. This is an opportunity to effect a rupture with a past of isolation and “unutilized potential”. As significant numbers of Guyanese desperately seek a way out to North America, others must fund a way in for Guyana into South America.
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