Did you know there is a country in South America where most of its population are of
Indian origin and where the official language is English?
If you don´t know which country I´m talking about, don't worry, because this is one
of the least known countries in the region and, to be fair, the media doesn't really
pay much attention to it.
So, a small, little-known country, the media don't talk much about…
Well those sound like the perfect ingredients for a VisualPolitik video!
We are talking about Guyana, an old British colony who didn't get independence until
1966.
Interestingly, at the moment of independence, both the government and popular opinion was
generally in favour of turning Guyana into a socialist country.
It was this mindset which gave the country its pinto-esque official name: the COOPERATIVE
Republic of Guyana.
But, let's focus on the country today.
Guyana is one of the poorest countries in South America.
It has crime and violence rates that are some of the highest in South America…
And that's saying a lot.
In fact, if Guyana is know for anything, it would be for its place in the international
supply of cocaine…
Oh, and also for having one of the highest suicide rate in the world.
With all this information, you'd be forgiven for being less than optimistic about the future
of this caribbean country.
But, they may get lucky in the near future.
A NEW OIL POWER All the signs are point to Guyana becoming
an oil power.
For the time being, this small republic, with a population of about 750,000 inhabitants
has already got the attention and dollars of multinational companies such as Exxon or
Hess Co.
In fact, after several years exploring the area, on the 13th January 2017, these two
powerful oil companies announced the discovery of what they think could be one of the most
significant oil and gas reserves found for decades.
Oil reserves have been found in deep waters, in the sea mantle, under the coastal waters
of Guyana.
Early calculations estimate that the amount of oil which can be exploited in the country
is no less than 4,000 million barrels and many experts affirm this could be a much larger
quantity.
So, it seems that this country holds a huge fortune just off its shores, but the question
really is - how much is this all really?
Considering the price of oil nowadays, we are talking about roughly $200 billion.
So, leaving other natural resources aside, only petrol, would result in the equivalent
of $250,000 per citizen.
And it's important to note that the oil reserves could be much bigger than the early
calculations indicate.
Now, it is true that oil exploitation is expensive and requires enormous investment, but this
could still be the first step in a new era of prosperity for Guyana.
So far the oil companies I have mentioned: Exxon Mobil and Hess have committed to investing
$900 million a year in Guyana, over the next few years.
The government is investing too, with plans to start exporting oil in 2020.
This means Guyana could be on the cusp of beginning one of the greatest economics developments
that South America has ever seen.
Yes, Guyana, that poor, violent country, could become the kind of country which other people
in South America who are unemployed might look at and think: "I want to change my
life, I want opportunities…"
Guyana could become that big hope for many people in South America.
Nevertheless, before they start packing, we have to say that it won't be that easy.
The road ahead is fraught with difficulties...
CONFLICT WITH VENEZUELA Much of the oil exploration is happening in
waters which are claimed by Venezuela.
And, the part they have claimed is not exactly small...
Maduro´s country considers the region known as Guyana Esequiba to be theirs.
And this region represents more than 70% of Guyana´s surface!
So essentially Venezuela is claiming the entire country as their own!
And if this wasn't bad enough, another area which makes up 7% of its territory is claimed
by their neighbours in Surinam.
If their neighbours had their way Guyana would have been carned up and split between them
long ago.
The thing is, this conflict over territory seemed to have been forgotten for years.
This was likely a consequence of the good relations that the government kept with Cuba...
a country that holds a lot of influence over this part of the world.
It was also likely because Venezuela wanted the support of organizations such as CARICOM,
the Caribbean Community, of which Guyana is a member.
So, you might be wondering, is Guyana a Caribean country, or is it a South American country?
Well it's sort of both... geographically speaking the country is South American.
But, politically, socially, and culturally speaking, Guyana is a Caribbean country.
In fact, Guyana was one of the countries which used to benefit from PetroCaribe, an initiative
by Hugo Chavez that was supplying cheap, high quality, oil to those countries which were
deemed "friends".
But it all changed when, in May 11th 2005, the left-wing government of the People's Progressive
Party lost the general elections to a coalition headed by the new president David Granger,
a man who was closer to Washington and who decided to end, once and for all, the claims
coming from Venezuela.
At that moment, the long ignored conflict defrosted and things started to heat up.
The conflict is today in hands of the United Nations.
But, whatever the solution might be (if there is any) it's important to be aware of this
threat to the potentially prosperous future of Guyana.
RACIAL CONFLICT Another important risk is in the recurrent
racial conflict in Guyana, which is a continuous presence in the country's media.
Guyana is a complex country demographically: around 50% of its population is of Indian
origin while 40% is of African origin.
These two big groups are not exactly on friendly terms.
In fact, the black minority claims that, for years, the Indian majority has obtained privileges
from the government and always got their way.
This has triggered recurrent waves of violence.
Luckily, the situation seems to have improved.
In fact, the winning coalition government is quite multiracial.
However, there is still the possibility that further internal conflict will flare up.
In any case, not only does this new government have a great opportunity to overcome decades
of conflicts once and for all, but it was also elected to fight violence and corruption
in the country - something that Guyana certainly needs - being one the most corrupt countries
in the world according to Transparency International.
So the new government has quite a few major tasks ahead of them... oil exportation as
well as a fight against corruption and criminality in the country.
The thing is, if they achieve their goals, Guyana will attract great attention and may
become the richest country in South America, if they use their resources well.
But will that happen?
That is the big question...
So what do you think?
Will Guyana be able to successfully take advantage of their newly discovered oil?
What position should Venezuela adopt?
Well, as always, I hope you found this video interesting.
If that were to be the case, please do click that like button and subscribe to the channel!
And if you are looking for something else to watch be sure to check out our video on
why Switzerland is so wealthy.
You can watch that video by clicking here (points).
And as always, I'll see you in the next video!
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