“CARICOM leaders claiming to be our friends AND benefitting from that friendship even as they entertain their other friends who are completely disrespecting Guyana by openly claiming 2/3 of my country and sporting that on a visible piece of jewellery even as that matter is being adjudicated in the ICJ, has me questioning our friendships and the principles of these CARICOM leaders,” she said in a Facebook post late Monday night.
The long-serving government minister admonished those countries for violating the principle of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Principle is principle. It shouldn’t be cowardly. And it shouldn’t be convenient,” Ms Manickchand said.
But Alliance For Change (AFC) executive member, Beverly Alert lashed back at the minister, indicating that the Guyana government should have abided by the principle of supporting Cuba, a long-time ally of Guyana, in quashing the Cuban Medical Brigade programme. “Principle is principle and should have applied when the decision was made to send home Cuban doctors. Cuba has been a long time and staunch friend to Guyana,” said Ms Alert, a former parliamentarian. Guyana and several other CARICOM member nations have terminated the Cuban medical brigade programme after the United States threatened to revoke the visas government officials and their immediate family members over concerns that the doctors were being exploited by the Cuban government.
