Johnson Smith explains Jamaica's absence from Guyana-Venezuela talks

Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith says "there is no need to be concerned" that Jamaica was not present alongside several CARICOM leaders at Thursday's meeting between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela over a border dispute. 

The Opposition People's National Party and dozens of persons online have argued that the absence of Jamaica, one of the key nations in CARICOM, was reflective of the county's diminishing status in the region and lack of engagement with regional issues.

Johnson Smith responded to the concerns on Friday morning. 

"I see some people asking why JA wasn't present. Firstly, not a CARICOM mtng.  2ndly, please note the countries present were generally from Sth and East Cbean having special concerns or relations w/ Vzla/ALBA," she said in a post on social media site X. 

She also noted that Prime Minister Andrew Holness was leading talks in the north on Haiti.

Her comment has garnered more than 250 responses, many of them critical. 

Questions about Jamaica's leadership on a dispute that threatens peace in the region were raised on Friday with Dr Amery Browne, Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs. 

He said Jamaica, as a founding member of CARICOM, "has been part and parcel of these efforts, part and parcel of the dialogue, the analysis, the recommendations, etc". 

"Jamaica was one of those, and there are others, who did not participate in yesterday's event. But, certainly, in the emergency meeting and certainly in the work of CARICOM, that I've chronicled... Jamaica has been working with the family in that regard," Browne said.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding today said "congratulations are in order to Prime Ministers Gonsalves and Skerrit for leading the charge on this and it was good to see Prime Minister Mia Mottley as well as other Caribbean leaders and officials in attendance". 

"Jamaica's conspicuous absence is another sad day, marking the further demise of our role and importance in the region," Golding added. 

The meeting was facilitated by Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, where it was hosted; Skerrit, Dominica's head of government who is also the chairman of the CARICOM; Brazil; and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Regional prime ministers present were Bahamas' Philip Davis, Barbados' Mia Mottley, Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, Philip Pierre of St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis' Terrence Drew and Dr Keith Rowley from Trinidad and Tobago. 

The meeting was held amid Venezuela's threat to annex the Essequibo region, an oil and mineral rich area which makes up more over two-thirds of Guyana.

Venezuela claimed the region was wrongly given to the former British colony in an 1899 arbitration award and Maduro, who is facing domestic pressures, ratcheted up his claims in recent weeks.

Guyana, which is a rising regional economic powerhouse owing to its oil wealth, has insisted on the matter being settled by the International Court of Justice, which the oil-exporting Venezuela does not recognise in dealing with the issue. 

Maduro hailed the talks as "excellent" while his Guyannese counterpart Dr Irfaan Ali has indicated that "no narrative, propaganda, decree" can change the map of Guyana. 

In a declaration after the talks, the two leaders agreed, among other things, that they will not threaten or use force to deal with any controversies between them and that they will refrain from escalating any existing tensions.

They also agreed to meet in Brazil within the next three months.

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.