Remarks on Venezuela by Former President Donald Ramotar of Guyana

Sept. 17—Donald Ramotar, the former President of Guyana (2011-2015), made the following remarks Sept. 12 to the 119th weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition, initiated in 2023 by the founder of the Schiller Institute, Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

As Helga [Zepp-LaRouche] said, conflicts are cropping up all over the world. Recently, the United States has sent a sizable military force in the South Caribbean.

In speaking on Venezuela and the U.S.A., I am conscious that Venezuela has made and is making a claim for two-thirds of Guyana. This is absolutely unjustified, since the border between Guyana and Venezuela has been settled since 1896. Venezuela respected the border until 1962. The then-Venezuelan Government did this at the instigation of the U.S.A., which was trying to stop independence to Guyana on the grounds that Cheddi Jagan’s Government was going to establish a second Cuba on the continent.

[Venezuelan] President [Hugo] Chavez had recognized this, and on more than one occasion he publicly said that the issue was created by the United States.

I am also conscious and thankful of the fact that the United States has now publicly declared its support for Guyana and its readiness to assist with the defense of our borders. What a change from 1962!

In relation to the United States military build-up in the South Caribbean close to Venezuela, I view this as a very dangerous development.

For many decades we, led by Cheddi Jagan, have fought for the Caribbean to be a zone of peace. This act threatens the peace in the region which, no doubt, can lead to the destabilization of Latin America and the Caribbean. In our region, there is a big factor in the United States dealing with these countries: fear of sanctions and of subversion—with all their consequences.

The Cuban and Venezuelan people have been suffering a lot economically, not because of anything their governments have done, but fundamentally because of sanctions.

The pretext for the United States heavy military presence in the region is the fight against drugs. If drugs were the real concern, then the United States should concentrate on the huge market that it has for the illicit product. Further, if drugs were the main concern, then Venezuela should not be the victim. Pino Arlacchi, former Executive Director of the United Nations Drug Control Program (1997-2002), recently wrote that Venezuela’s collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was one of the best, second only to Cuba in our region. He questioned the existence of the “Cartel de los Soles.”

According to the United Nations, Venezuela has consolidated its status as a territory free from the cultivation of coca leaves, cannabis and similar crops as well as from the presence of international criminal cartels. According to Arlacchi, the United Nations 2025 report on drugs hardly mentioned Venezuela, and the European Union’s report did not mention that country in its report at all.

I ask: How can an organized group such as the Cartel de los Soles not attract any attention by such reputable anti-drug forces?

The problem is clearly not drugs; it is more likely oil and other natural resources in the region. Guyana and Suriname have recently found oil, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are exploring, and Venezuela itself is known to possess the largest reserves in the world. The United States wants this resource.

In passing, let me say if drugs are the main problem, then we have to have some new thinking to deal with this scourge. Recall that it was President Nixon in the early 1970s who declared a war against drugs. Since then the problem has become much worse. It seems to me, therefore, that we have to look for other means to conduct this fight.