Radio communication provided by Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as proof that the Norwegian vessel doing seismic work in Guyana’s territorial waters for ExxonMobil was out of its jurisdiction on December 22nd, 2018, when it was intercepted by the Venezuelan navy, is false and proves nothing, Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge says.

“I have no difficulty whatsoever with any of that exchange. I don’t think that it proves anything whatsoever about the veracity of what the Venezuelan claims are,” he said. Responding to questions at a Guyana Trades Union Congress forum at Critchlow Labour College yesterday on Venezuela’s aggression to Guyana in relation to its claim to five eights of Guyana’s territory, Greenidge said based on the coordinates that both the Venezuelan Navy and the Norwegian vessel have verified, the interception took place “in the middle of Guyana’s maritime shelf.”

He said, “They have no rights there. The vessels were licensed by us. We gave them (Venezuela) early notice that seismic work was going to be done. They chose not to respond until after the interception. So what is supposed to be proof? That minister, one of her great strengths is being extremely combative and that is what she was doing there.”

He quoted the captain as saying in the recording, “We are going to move from what you define as Venezuelan territory.” For Rodriguez to now use that to suggest to the world that the captain admitted he was in Venezuelan territory, Greenidge said, “is not even worth a second glance.”

He added that the captain was basically telling the naval commander that they (his staff) were going to move the vessel out of the area that the Venezuelans said was theirs and they were going to let the governments sort that out. “You are a warship. You are trying to land something on top of this vessel. We are going to move out of the area. It was not for a maritime vessel to confront a naval ship at that time,” he said.

If the captain had not maneuvered the vessel, the Ramform Tethys, he said, the Venezuelan navy would have landed a helicopter on it.

“As far as I am aware, looking at the coordinates that they gave and ours there is no dispute between us where the vessels were. I have not heard any argument that they were someplace else.”

Noting that the vessels that were doing seismic research have not returned to the area since, Greenidge said, “It does not mean they cannot return in the future. They have not returned for the same reason the captain explained to the commander of the Venezuelan vessel, namely, in the interest of protecting the lives of the 70 crew members on the Ramform Tethys.”

Noting also Venezuela’s aggression towards Guyana, Greenidge said, “Guyana has never, since 1899, done or taken any action in terms of military to deny Venezuela its rights. So we should embrace no declaration, no resolution that suggests that we are equally at fault in terms of escalating this crisis.”Responding to a comment that Venezuela’s Petrocaribe initiative, where it offered oil on concessionary terms, was good for the Caribbean, Greenidge noted the saying “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”“We must not be blind to strategic and national interests that Venezuela has and not see these apparent acts of charity as simply acts of charity. They have an ulterior motive and we should recognise that. We are dealing in a world, not of saints. There are no saints in this world,” he later said.

While Venezuela excelled compared to many others in economic cooperation and support to other countries, he said, “We see those activities increasing in direct relation to an attempt to woo those countries to keep silent when Venezuela is laying claim to Guyana’s territory. It is appalling sometimes. The claims are not only against Guyana but some of the very countries that are being given 200 houses, building materials, and also subsidized interest rates associated with petroleum.”

When Guyana had elections in 2015, within two or three days, he noted, there was an announcement that ExxonMobil had discovered reserves in commercial quantities. He added, “Without us taking any action Venezuela stopped shipment of oil to Guyana. They stopped taking rice from Guyana.”