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When a group of researchers stumbled upon an “exuberantly- coloured snake” in Warapoka in July, 2022, they knew what it was, but it was the first time they, or anyone else, had seen it in Guyana.

What Ignazio Avella, Charlotte Lorand, André Surendre and Ronaldo Boyal, just 16, discovered was a reddish snake with black stripes on its dorsum. The belly was almost uniformly orange with very few black spots.

The team, quite familiar with snakes, believed it was a Erythrolamprus dorsocarallinus, a snake found in several localities in Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and the western Brazil Amazonia but never before in Guyana.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. dorsocorallinus from Guyana, thus representing an addition to the faunal list of this country,” they are quoted in the Captive and Field Herpetology Journal as saying.

The detail of the snake’s head (Photo: Ignazio Avella, sourced from The Captive and Field Herpetology Journal. Volume 6, Issue 1, 2023)

And though the country is calling for forest-saving funds, through its new jurisdictional (or national coverage) carbon credits venture that falls under its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), it believes that it should also get paid to continue protecting the biodiversity found in those forests and for further research to find what hasn’t been found yet.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali makes a point during Guyana’s side event at COP28 in Dubai. He was joined by joined by Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Former Colombian President Ivan Duque, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy and President of the Inter American Development Bank Ilan Goldfajn (Photo Office of the President/ December 1, 2023)

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo engaging the News Room’s Vishani Ragobeer (Photo: News Room/ December 4, 2023)

Pradeepa Bholanath, a climate economist who is Guyana’s lead climate negotiator and Senior Director for Climate and REDD+ at Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources in Dubai for COP28 (Photo: Yusuf Ali/ News Room/ December 5, 2023)

Toshao Melena Pollard at COP28 (Photo: News Room/ November 30, 2023)

The not-for-profit Sophia Point Research Centre was founded in August by United Kingdom Parliamentarian (who has Guyanese heritage) David Lammy and his wife, Nicola Green. It is located in Rivers’ View, about two and a half hours away from the capital city, Georgetown has been touted as a space to allow researchers, academics and students to study Guyana’s vast forests and what is found there.

The new Sophia Point Rainforest Centre, situated at the confluence of the Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo rivers (Photo: Sophia Point Research Centre/ Facebook)

In response to the defiant declarations from the Nicolas Maduro-led Venezuelan government, President Dr. Irfaan Ali says his government is engaging all foreign players, be it the United Nations and its bodies, overseas military partners and other states and organisations.

At the same time, he has made it clear that Guyana is resolving the border controversy through a process backed by international law and the international community and as such, citizens nor those who invest here have anything to fear.

“Our message is very clear, your investment is in a safe, democratic country in which the rule of law prevails.

“Our international partners and the international community are ready to support us, they have assured us of our support and all we want is for these missteps to be corrected by President Maduro,” President Ali said in an address to the nation broadcast live on his Facebook page on Tuesday, just before midnight.

Venezuela went ahead with its sham December 3 referendum that involved Guyana’s Essequibo region even though the International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked it to refrain from taking any actions that would aggravate the situation.

President Maduro revealed on Tuesday a redrawn of his country’s map so that it now includes the Essequibo region. He also ordered the creation of new entities to grant licences for oil, gas and mines exploration in the Essequibo region; he proposed the creation of a new law to establish new environmentally protected areas that could be centres for tourism and biodiversity.

None of these actions will be welcomed by Guyana or the international community, President Ali said.

“They have literally declared themselves an outlaw nation but nothing that they do will stop Guyana from pursuing the case (before) the International Court of Justice.

“We will not allow our territory to be violated nor our territory will be violated,” President Ali declared.

President Ali also told Guyanese that his government has informed the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s recent declarations on Guyana’s Essequibo region.

The ICJ, which is presiding over the substantive border case, ruled last Friday that Venezuela shall refrain from seeking to seize control of the Essequibo- a move many believed the Spanish-speaking nation would pursue following its referendum.

In an address to the nation live from State House at 11:20 PM on Tuesday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali told Guyanese that his government has informed the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s recent declarations on Guyana’s Essequibo region.

The President said the international community is also being engaged, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is on “full alert” and engaging its foreign military counterparts, including the United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM).

Following Maduro’s sham December 3 referendum in which he claimed victory over Guyana’s Essequibo region, he revealed on Tuesday a redrawn of his country’s map so that it now includes the Essequibo region.

He also ordered the creation of new entities to grant licences for oil, gas and mines exploration in the Essequibo region; he proposed the creation of a new law to establish new environmentally protected areas that could be centres for tourism and biodiversity.

In response, President Ali said Guyana views this as an “imminent threat” to territorial integrity, noting that none of these actions will be accepted by the international community and assured Guyanese that the government will do all it can to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said the UN Security Council will also be updated on the latest developments.

“To my fellow Guyanese, we are here to ensure the safety of this country, the territory of this country, the sovereignty of this country and to protect every citizen,” President Ali said.

He described Maduro’s recent declarations as “desperate actions” and advised against doing anything that would interfere with the peace and stability of the region.

“They have literally declared themselves an outlaw nation but nothing that they do will stop Guyana from pursuing the case (before) the International Court of Justice.

“We will not allow our territory to be violated nor our territory will be violated,” President Ali declared.

He also added, “Let me be very clear: President Maduro’s actions are an open defiance of the ICJ order. In my opinion, he is testing the mettle of the ICJ.

“Reckless actions can only bring instability to this region and can only create more uncertain standards for the Venezuelan people.”

The ICJ, which is presiding over the substantive border case, ruled last Friday that Venezuela shall refrain from seeking to seize control of the Essequibo.

The boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was determined by an arbitration tribunal 124 years ago, but Venezuela rejected the award in 1962, saying it was flawed. A mechanism was set up to solve the controversy and after decades of talks failed, the United Nations Secretary General referred the matter to the ICJ, which is the UN’s principal judicial organ.

The court has determined it can hear and decide on the case, but Venezuela put forward the symbolic referendum before the Court can rule.

Guyana sought protection and that’s where the Court ruled Friday that the Essequibo has been recognised as Guyanese territory and has been governed by Guyana since the 1899 award and Venezuela should refrain from interrupting Guyanese sovereignty of the territory.

Venezuela still went ahead with its referendum although there are regional and international reports that there was low voter turnout.

Guyana insists, as does the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and Organization of American States, and the entire international community, that the controversy over the validity of the Arbitral Award and the land boundary must be resolved by the International Court of Justice, which will assure a just, peaceful, binding and permanent solution to this matter, in accordance with international law.

“This gimmick of a referendum backfired, it back fired,” Nandlall said.

The Attorney General made the disclosure during a symposium held by the Guyana Bar Association on Venezuela’s referendum at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

As he reflected on the history leading up to the border controversy with Venezuela, Nandlall said there is no evidence to invalidate the legal foundation of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the land boundary between the two states.

“Absolutely not a scintilla of evidence that can stand up in a court of municipal law, more so international law, has been produced to impugn, invalidate or to even shake the legal foundation of the Arbitral Award. None at all,” Nandlall said.

In fact, the Attorney General noted that international legal process will not allow Venezuela’s contention over Guyana to succeed.

“If Venezuela is to get away with this gimmick, it will bring into question, or it will allow for dozens of international disputes similarly resolved, involving borders, other international questions that have been resolved by arbitration, mediation, conciliation and other peaceful methods of resolving disputes,” he said.

Attorney Kim-Kyte Thomas

Stating that Guyana does not have the military might as that of Venezuela, Nandlall said the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is “committed” and “ready” for the next move.

“It is my considered view that having regard to the historic role that the U.S. has played in this matter and to some extent, the British government, they cannot be officious bystanders. They cannot be in the position of the ordinary states on this issue. They have a duty, in my humbled view, to ensure that a process that they engineered and participated in is respected,” Nandlall noted.

Meanwhile, during her brief presentation on the topic, attorney Kim Kyte-Thomas said the matter can be resolved at the diplomatic level.

She believes now is the time for the international community to pressure the Venezuelan Government.

“I still have a strong belief that this matter could be resolved through diplomacy.

“I believe that the international bodies, CARICOM, they must all put pressure on the leadership of the country. Pressure needs to be placed on the leadership of the country because States have an obligation to comply with the principles of international law and what we see happening here is a State going on a folic of its own and there are dire consequences for that,” Kyte-Thomas said.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is presiding over the substantive border case, ruled last Friday that Venezuela shall refrain from seeking to seize control of the Essequibo.

The boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was determined by an arbitration tribunal 124 years ago, but Venezuela rejected the award in 1962, saying it was flawed. A mechanism was set up to solve the controversy and after decades of talks failed, the United Nations Secretary General referred the matter to the ICJ, which is the UN’s principal judicial organ.

The country representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nicolas Pron. (Photo: Ministry of Health/ December 5, 2023)

It is with this in mind that UNICEF engaged the Ministry of Education to discuss ways that mental wellness can be explored within the curriculum.

“Guyana is definitely on the right track to tackle mental health and wellbeing at the early onset at the school level and acting early is the best way to tackle poor mental health.

“Next year, UNICEF will be gathering available data to support the development of a comprehensive mental health plan which will be used to guide the implementation of further interventions,” Pron said.

He said these interventions are critical to achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals.

As part of efforts to target children and adolescents, the Health Ministry this year launched the pilot programme on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in the development of children and adolescents. This was done through UNICEF.

A new mental health legislation and the suicide prevention legislation were also developed to ensure persons are properly cared for.

The conference is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the University of Guyana and several international bodies.  The primary objectives are to hold discussions about global responses and recommendations for dealing with mental health.

As was done in previous years, adolescents are encouraged to join the conversation and will be part of the conference on Wednesday.

Emmanuel Cummings, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (Photo: Ministry of Health/ December 5, 2023)

Christina Hoven, a Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry attached to Columbia University, USA. (Photo: Ministry of Health/ December 5, 2023)

She noted that Guyana’s data depict several indicators for mental health issues to arise through injuries. Registration for the next cohort commences on March 15 2024 and interested persons can visit the conference or www.guyana-well-being.com.gritt.