UN Secretary General Concerned About Border Dispute Between Guyana and Venezuela

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has expressed concern at the recent escalation of tension between Guyana and Venezuela over the border controversy between them.

“He trusts that both parties will demonstrate good faith and avoid any action that would aggravate or extend the controversy,” said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the Secretary-General in a statement.

“In January 2018, after carefully analyzing developments in the good offices process that had taken place over the preceding years, the Secretary-General, in the exercise of the power and responsibility conferred on him by the 1966 Geneva Agreement, chose the International Court of Justice as the means that was next to be used for the solution of the border controversy between the two countries,” Dujarric added.

“The controversy is now before the International Court of Justice. The Secretary-General does not express a view on matters that are the subject of ongoing judicial proceedings,” he added.

In a rare case of national unity, the Guyana parliament on Monday formally rejected Venezuela’s claims to ownership of the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo through a referendum on December 3, with both government and opposition legislators denouncing the move by Caracas.

On Wednesday, the Guyana government denied Venezuela’s claim of joint efforts by the United States and Guyana to  increase a military presence along the border with Guyana with Caracas also accusing President Irfaan Ali of continuing to “refuse to engage in direct dialogue” with the south American country on the border issue.

“The Foreign Ministry is not aware of that. That appears to be the usual posture of Venezuela which is to mislead and to create division in the region and I think they’re failing at that miserably,” Foreign Minister Hugh Todd said in response to an official statement issued by Caracas on the issue.

In its statement, Caracas said that it “strongly rejects” the joint announcement made by Guyana and the United States governments of an “increase in  military presence in the region with the aim of protecting American energy companies.

“This constitutes the greatest threat to the stability of the Caribbean and Latin America,” Caracas said, noting that President Ali  is refusing to engage in dialogue “to resolve the territorial dispute, as mandated by the 1966 Geneva agreement.

“Instead he enters into agreements with the most aggressive military power in human history, which through its so-called Southern Command, has been conducting military operations in an area with substantial energy resources that are being illegally exploited by Exxon Mobil”.

According to the UN, the longstanding border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela arose as a result of the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between then British Guiana and Venezuela is null and void.

Within the framework of the 1966 Geneva Agreement between the two countries, the UN said “the Secretary-General conducted Good Offices from 1990 to 2017 to find a solution to their border controversy.”

During this time, four Personal Representatives of the Secretary-General, with the support of the Division of Public Affairs (DPA), worked closely with the parties toward this end, the UN said.

It said former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon communicated to the parties on December 15, 2016 a framework for the resolution of the border controversy, based on his conclusions on what would constitute the most appropriate next steps.

Notably, the UN said he concluded that the Good Offices Process would continue for one final year, until the end of 2017, with a strengthened mandate of mediation, and that, if significant progress had not been made by that time towards arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, he would choose the International Court of Justice as the next means of settlement, unless the Governments of Guyana and Venezuela jointly requested that he refrain from doing so.

On January 30, 2018,  Guterres, following a careful analysis of developments in 2017, chose the International Court of Justice as the means to be used for the solution of the controversy.

In reaching this decision, the UN said the Secretary-General also reached the conclusion that Guyana and Venezuela could benefit from his continued good offices through a “complementary process” established on the basis of his powers under the UN Charter, stressing that he remained committed to accompanying both States as they seek to overcome their differences regarding the border controversy.

Following this decision, the UN said Guyana filed an application instituting proceedings against Venezuela with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on March 29, 2018.

Guyana has already asked the ICJ to block several questions being proposed by Venezuela which is seeking a popular vote in support of  the South American government’s stance of not recognising the ICJ to settle the decades old border issue.

Venezuela’s planned referendum and its approved questions for the referendum later this year have set off a wave of criticisms, with the Guyana government accusing Venezuela of trying to annex parts of the country’s territory in contravention with international law.

The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organization of American States (OAS) have also rejected the referendum stating that international law strictly prohibits the Government of one State from unilaterally seizing, annexing or incorporating the territory of another state and noted that the referendum will open the door to the possible violation of this fundamental tenet of international law.