BARBADOS’ Ambassador to CARICOM, David Comissiong believes that contending parties in Venezuela must be allowed to resolve the ongoing crisis without outside interference, stressing that a military conflict in that South American country could spell trouble for CARICOM Member States.
According to Ambassador Comissiong: “Not only will it have devastating consequences to the people of Venezuela, it will have devastating consequences for all of our CARICOM territories. There will be a flood of refugees and illegal firearms right across our region, our tourism trade will be disrupted and there will be serious negative consequences for our economies.”
He was speaking to the media recently as he gave an update on the 30th inter-sessional meeting of the Heads of Government of CARICOM, which was held in St. Kitts, where he highlighted the second statement issued, which sends a message to “powerful” countries whom, according to him, “are seemingly acting in disregard of fundamental principles of international law that are critical to the welfare and well-being of small developing nations”.
“To say to them that they were acting wrongly and that in fact the correct approach to dealing with the crisis in Venezuela is to apply the principles of the UN Charter, the principles of non-intervention, non-interference in the legitimate internal affairs of sovereign states.”
He said that there must be the prohibition of the threat or use of force, respect for the rule of law, human rights and democracy. And that every effort must be made to deal with the crisis on the basis of establishing a mechanism for dialogue and negotiation.
“It has to be meaningful dialogue between contending parities – to determine how best the crisis can be resolved within the confines of the Constitution of Venezuela or the rule or law, whether by referendum elections or any other agreed methods.
“Nothing short of this will lead to the quelling of this crisis or provide the relief that all Venezuelans require. Pending this there must be the commitment of the delivery of humanitarian aid in a manner that is not politicised, but which uses UN mechanisms that have been used over the years for the impartial and effective delivery of humanitarian relief.
“So essentially what CARICOM is saying to powerful countries that are located thousands of miles away, from these consequences is that we are the front line, and therefore we are saying to you to be responsible. That there must be diplomacy and peace. That we must find a way to resolve this matter in a way that is peaceful, a way that is based on the Montevideo mechanism that CARICOM has put forward – that is a mechanism that says let us have a process that begins with bringing people to the table to dialogue, bringing all the contending parties. Out of that dialogue will come a process of negotiation. Out of those negotiations will come a situation in which parties will commit to a certain solution or solutions and then there will be an implementation,” he said. (JH)