…despite Venezuela’s ambitious plans By Abena RockcliffeThe Government of Guyana is yet to engage Guyanese citizens living near the Venezuela/ Guyana border about the dangers facing their country’s territorial integrity.Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl GreenidgeHowever, Minister of Foreign affairs Carl Greenidge says that this will be done “soon.”Venezuela’s President Nicol?s Maduro,Nike Shox Clearance, on May 27,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, 2015, issued a decree, extending Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territorial waters. A map which was issued, accompanying the decree, shows that the claim includes the area where the US giant oil company,NFL Jerseys China Cheap, ExxonMobil is currently drilling for oil.It has been five months since the decree has been issued but no government official, not even from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Wholesale China Jerseys, visited Essequibo to formally meet with the residents. Neither is there any structured blanket sensitization programme in place.At a recent press conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs,Wholesale Jerseys, Carl Greenidge admitted that the Ministry is lacking in this regard as “no formal” engagement has been made.“Right now there isn’t a formal process of undertaking a systematic saturation of the hinterland community with this problem, but this process is one that we have been undertaking and it is taking place at several levels including at the schools.”Further, Greenidge indicated that Toshaos were informed of the issue. He said that at the last Toshaos conference of Guyana, the Toshaos themselves asked to be briefed on developments on decree no. 1787, decree no. 1859 and United Nations discussions.Greenidge said that having been apprised, the Toshaos then generated and passed a resolution lending support to Guyana’s territorial integrity “so that is part of a process and there are other activities going on in that regard.”The Minister did not state what are the “other activities going on in this regard” neither did he say if there was any other communication with the Toshaos on this front since August,Cheap Jerseys, whether in collaboration with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs or by other means,There have indeed been much developments since the conference held in August. Just recently Venezuela threatened a Canadian gold-mining company operating in Aurora.Setting that aside, the government is very much aware that Venezuela plans to launch a diplomatic strategy to recover the territory of the Essequibo.This was expressed by retired colonel Pompeyo Torrealba Rivero, who advises President Nicol?s Maduro on this matter.According to an article posted on El Universal, Torrealba coordinates the Office for the Rescue of the Essequibo, created by the Venezuelan government to try to recover the area.Torrealba informed that President Maduro ordered to teach the matter of the Essequibo as a subject in universities and elementary and high schools, and also in media located in bordering areas.He also proposed to issue identity cards for the 200,000 estimated inhabitants of the Essequibo, plus an awareness campaign to make the population of Guyana understand that the territory belongs to Venezuela.The government of Guyana had said that it would “stoutly resist” plans by Venezuela to register residents in Essequibo and issue them identification cards.A United States-based Political Scientist Ivelaw Griffith urged government to aggressively educate Guyanese about Venezuela’s territorial claim to the Essequibo Region.Griffith recommended that the Guyana government engage in vibrant public diplomacy drive across the country to complement a defence diplomacy strategy.“It is important to complement that defence diplomacy with a public diplomacy…It is important in my view to have a campaign. Put all the relevant documents on one website, use Social Media..,” he said in delivering a lecture titled?”Regime Change and Expectations Management: Crime and other Quotidian Security Challenges Facing Guyana.”Speaking on another aspect of the Venezuela controversy, Greenidge admitted that Guyanese are being misled and need better information.He said, “Let me make this clear to the Guyanese public which is often misled as to what is actually going on.”Yet, Essequibo awaits engagement on the issue.