Georgetown: The Government of Guyana is closely monitoring the situation in neighbouring Venezuela following reports of a possible refugee crisis.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge told the Ministry of the Presidency that there is no reason for undue alarm, noting that while authorities do not foresee any massive cross-border movements in the immediate future, Guyana will, on the basis of an assessment of the way things are, take appropriate actions if the need arises.
“The Cabinet and Government have been alerted to these events that are unfolding but we are not of the view that you are going to get a massive flood of people… However, as a responsible Government, we are getting an assessment from our own authorities and from those in a position to advise,” the Minister was quoted as saying in a release from the Ministry of the Presidency.
The government has already noted that Guyana is obligated to accept Guyanese who wish to return home. The Minister explained that there is always movement across all of Guyana’s borders, which would dip and peak at varying periods but noted that, “from what know of Venezuela’s capabilities we believe that movement of people across the border are not likely to be of any magnitude that Venezuela’s authorities cannot handle, at least in relation to Guyana’s borders.”
When asked about any regional mechanisms that are in place to address this issue should it escalate, the Minister said that the Region has taken note of what is going on but the wider region captured by Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Organisation of American States (OAS), have not examined the situation with a view to intervene in the sense of putting in place any sort of arrangements because such actions does not seem necessary at this point.
Over the last three years, the Venezuelan economy has been on a downturn, which the political Opposition contends is the result of the poor policies implemented by the Nicolas Maduro-led Administration.
Earlier this month, over a million citizens signed a petition demanding a referendum to remove the President, who last Friday declared a 60-days state of emergency in the Bolivarian Republic.
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