International Relations Expert Says Guyana Should Consider the Presence of International Military Mission

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The director of the Centre for International and Border Studies, Dr Mark Kirton, says Guyana should examine the possibility of having the presence of an international military mission as the border dispute with Venezuela continues unabated.

Dr. Mark KirtonKirton, former director of the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies (UWI), told the Guyana-based online publication, NEWS SOURCE, that diplomacy has always been Guyana’s first line of defense to the threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But he said while Georgetown should be embracing this approach, the country should have an international military mission on standby even as the territorial controversy remains before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for final adjudication.

“We should have already had some kind of military mission, hemispheric, a deterrence mission. Because our capacity militarily is known but I believe that we could have broadened Regional Security System, the RSS, to include Trinidad and Jamaica, which have substantial military forces, along with a broadened hemispheric grouping United States, Brazil, maybe some others under the aegis of the United Nations,” he told NEWS SOURCE.

Venezuela is claiming the entire Essequibo region as well as a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) offshore, where more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) have been discovered in the prolific Stabroek Block.

In 2023, Caracas claimed that more than half of eligible Venezuelan voters had taken part in a referendum that yielded overwhelming support for laying claim to the Essequibo.

The two countries are before the ICJ concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, which is pending before it.

The case, which was filed by Guyana in March 2018, seeks the court’s decision on the validity of the Arbitral Award which finally determined the land boundary between the two countries. The court has already ruled that it has jurisdiction over the controversy and will decide the issue on the merits of the case.

Kirton, while he is convinced that the ICJ will rule in Guyana’s favor, said given the stance taken by Venezuela, there may very be an issue of compliance on the part of the Spanish-speaking country, whenever the UN Court hands down its decision in the substantive case.

He said it is therefore important for Guyana to adopt a multifaceted approach, in which there is “sustained” interaction with both the local community, and the country’s international and potential allies, including its multilateral partners, on Guyana’s position.

“I believe that one recommendation could be that they should have a core of special envoys established, not necessarily only from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but from other places that could go to capitals with a mandate to present Guyana’s position not only on the short term issue of elections, and so on by Venezuela in a territory that was never owned or occupied by them but also in the position down the road.

‘We have to ensure that whatever is the outcome, and I think the outcome would be in Guyana’s favor, that the issue of compliance is understood,” Kirton said, reiterating that a “whole of country” approach is needed.

Kirton also made a case for greater emphasis on education, noting that the facts on the controversy should be included in the school’s curriculum from nursery to university.

“The issue of borders should be added to the curriculum in schools, and in university. You know, in Venezuela, from nursery to university there is that particular argument about the rightness of their claim to Guyana and I don’t think that we’ve consistently had that kind of educational process unfolding in Guyana,” he said.