President David Granger yesterday met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and reiterated Guyana’s wish for a juridical settlement of the ongoing border controversy with Venezuela.
According to a statement released by the Ministry of the Presidency, the meeting took place at the UN Headquarters, in New York, to update the Secretary General on the border controversy and for a report on his attempts to resolve the issue.
Granger, it said, restated that Guyana has always believed that what was at issue in the controversy is legal in character and has to be settled by a legal process. As a result, he reiterated that Venezuela’s legal contention that the 1899 Arbitral Award is null and void should be taken to the International Court of Justice for resolution.
The border controversy escalated in May last year when Venezuela issued a maritime decree claiming most of Guyana’s Atlantic waters. Since then, Guyana has mounted an intense international campaign to rebuff Venezuela’s claims and to articulate the position that a juridical settlement was now necessary.
While Guyana has been lobbying for a juridical settlement to the border controversy, Venezuela wants to continue with the UN Good Offices process, which has yielded no meaningful result thus far.
In reaffirming Guyana’s case for the controversy to be resolved through a juridical settlement, the statement said Granger pointed out during the meeting that all sides are agreed that the now 50-year-old Geneva Agreement is operative and that the same agreement empowers the UN Secretary General to choose a juridical settlement as a means of final settlement if all parties cannot agree. He added that that Guyana has lived with the promise that the agreement would have brought an end to the territorial controversy and that the Guyanese people could enjoy the benefits of Independence.
Granger also noted that the failure to resolve this controversy places Guyana at risk, the statement said. He reminded that in October, 2013, Venezuela sent a naval corvette into Guyana’s waters to expel a petroleum exploration vessel. Venezuela, again, in October, 2015, wrote to a Canadian gold mining corporation in Guyana threatening legal action for alleged trespass on Guyana’s territory, which is claimed by Venezuela.
The President expressed his gratitude to the Secretary General for his engagement in exploring means of resolving the controversy and for keeping his promise to find a way forward, the statement added.
