The United States has reiterated its recognition of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award settling the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, even as it expressed concern about the ongoing turmoil in Caracas.
“As far as US policy is concerned we recognised the border established in 1899,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Juan Gonzalez said in an invited comment to Stabroek News on Thursday.
Relations between Guyana and Venezuela have been frosty for over a year now since President Nicolas Maduro issued a decree laying claim to most of Guyana’s Atlantic waters.
The Venezuelan decree had followed closely on the heels of an announcement by US Company ExxonMobil of a significant oil find in Guyana’s waters. The Venezuelan decree laid claim to this area.
Following the rising tensions, President David Granger and Maduro met Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in September where a number