The forthcoming (Jan. 5, 2024) issue of Executive Intelligence Review carries an article headlined “The Guyana-Venezuela Crisis: Snatching Development from the Jaws of War.” It states:
“The solution required—for Guyana-Venezuela and the other cases [of geopolitical border conflicts] as well—is to put the border dispute on hold, with each side committed to continuing negotiations, while large-scale, joint economic development projects are launched in the region. This will generate a situation in which each side shares a common interest in each other’s development—the win-win approach that was behind the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, and which is at the center of China’s Belt and Road Initiative today. Moreover, such an approach will introduce the decisive element of progress and optimism into their populations, which will shift their identity away from the dog-eat-dog world of British geopolitics, and toward fostering the common good of all nations.
“The key role will have to be played by Brazil, both as a neighbor of Guyana and Venezuela, and as one of the founding five BRICS nations (along with Russia, India, China and South Africa). On Jan. 1, 2024, the BRICS will expand by another five members (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Ethiopia, and Iran), and there is a list of some 20 nations—including Venezuela—which have also applied for membership. Brazil would back Venezuela’s entry, and sponsor Guyana’s application for membership as well, either as a full-scale member or perhaps by creating an intermediate category of Friends of the BRICS that would be applicable to many smaller nations like Guyana (which has a population of 800,000).
“Joint development of the entire region, emphatically including the offshore oil deposits of Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname as well, would be launched under Brazil’s economic and political leadership. In addition to being a member of the BRICS, Brazil has announced it will join the OPEC-Plus group of world oil producers on Jan. 1, 2024. And it has a national oil company, Petrobras, which has world class capabilities and experience in offshore and onshore oil exploration and exploitation, in the Americas, the Middle East, and elsewhere….
“Proceeds from the combined oil revenues, even in disputed areas, would be reinvested in a series of great infrastructure projects which are also multinational in nature…. High-speed rail corridors would be built across the entire northern coast of South America, connecting Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela—and going on from there to Colombia, across the Darién Gap, and into Central America and Mexico….
“Oil revenues generated in the region can be used to launch an investment fund to provide credit for the above projects. As additional funds are required, above and beyond the oil revenues generated directly, the BRICS New Development Bank is well suited to meet that need. Under the leadership of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the NDB has stepped up lending to BRICS member nations and others in the Global South, including loans in local currencies. In this case, a portfolio of credits in Chinese yuan and Brazilian reais could be put together to finance the above projects, especially since most of the contractors will be Chinese, Brazilian and other regional companies.
“As the BRICS-10 take up the task in 2024 of not only further de-dollarizing their trade and investment activities, but also devising a new financial architecture to replace the current bankrupt system—including a new common currency to facilitate long-term productive investment—the Guyana-Venezuela joint development perspective provides precisely the sort of ambitious expansion of NDB activity that many BRICS nations are looking for.”
