As a young military officer, Hugo Chavez
pored over plans to determine the best routes
for an invasion of Guyana. Now as President,
he says he still studies maps but now it is to
determine what would be the best route for the
proposed road link between Guyana and
Venezuela.
Speaking to parliamentarians and civic
leaders at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel and at a
joint press conference he hosted with
President Bharrat Jagdeo at State House on
Thursday evening during his one-day state
visit, Chavez laid much of the blame for the
historic tensions between Caracas and
Georgetown on the United States.
Chavez said the US fomented strife between
Guyana and Venezuela so as to divide them and
push them into an armed conflict. He said it
was a similar strategy to that of arming
ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein which
sparked a ten-year war between Iran and Iraq.
"That was the imperialist plan which
created great business because since then
Venezuela has been in debt because of its
heavy expenditure on military equipment, much
of which was obsolete, obtained from North
America." He said the strategy also
generated severe corruption in his country.
He went on to recall that the possibility
in the 60s of Guyana becoming another Cuba was
used to whip up antagonism in the Venezuelan
military.
The military were given maps that showed
Venezuela surrounded by Cuba, Grenada and
Guyana poised to attack it.
But he declared that the sentiment against
Guyana had changed dramatically since then and
his visit was an indication of the country's
desire to strengthen and foster closer
relations.
