UNDIPLOMATIC CONDUCT

Oct 19, 2016 Editorial

It seems that Guyana’s dispute with Venezuela has flared up again with the news that Venezuela has escalated its border claim. Reports emanating from the state-run press in Caracas have stated that since President Maduro’s return from the United Nations (UN) in September, he has ordered several overflights of the disputed two-thirds of the Essequibo region. Its goal is the digital mapping of the area for the completion of an atlas of Venezuela.
Guyana has registered its concerns with the UN and warned that such threats could escalate with consequences if they continue. Venezuela’s refusal to have the dispute settled the International Court of Justice (ICJ) shows that it is not interested in finding a peaceful solution to the problem.
This year marks the 117th anniversary since the 1899 Arbitral Award in Paris on the border dispute. The decision was largely in favour of Guyana which Venezuela had agreed to accept, but subsequently reneged and has since maintained its claim of two-thirds of Guyana’s territory. In 1966, the dispute was referred to the UN, which led to the Geneva Agreement signed on February 17, 1966 by both countries. The Agreement established a Mixed Commission with the task of finding satisfactory solutions to the border dispute. At the UN meeting in September, the border dispute was discussed again as it was last year and previous years, but Venezuela has thwarted every effort by the UN for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
President Granger had high hopes that the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, whose ten-year term expires in December, would have settled the dispute before he departs, but it appears that would not happen. While many border disputes have been settled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), President Maduro has rejected the UN proposal to have the matter placed before the ICJ for the simple fact that the Court will likely uphold the 1899 Arbitral Award.
Guyana has criticized Venezuela’s action and has reiterated its firm commitment for a peaceful settlement by the ICJ and for the Maduro government to scale back its threats and abandon its claim.
It seems that Venezuela is bent on frustrating the Guyana government because it realizes that its military capability is superior to Guyana’s military. Guyana has chided President Maduro for his un-statesmanlike conduct and for disrespecting the rule of law of states. It stated that Venezuela is unworthy of being a member of the international community.
According to the Guyana Government, Venezuela’s reaffirmation of its claim to the disputed border “is a frenzied display of ill temper from forces with whom history has caught up, revealing the tangled web of falsehoods on which their specious claims to Guyana were built.”
While Guyana continues to uphold the 1899 Award and promises to defend its validity in the ICJ, Venezuela has rejected it. Venezuela has suggested that the UN should use the Good Offices, which is in accordance with the 1966 Geneva Agreement to settle the dispute. Guyana has rejected such use, because it has failed to resolve the controversy.
It seems unlikely that the border dispute will be settled anytime soon, because both countries are at crossroads andVenezuela has perpetuated falsities to bolster its claims.
Relying solely on the UN to settle the border dispute, it would appear that Guyana has placed all its eggs in one basket. It has sought assistance from regional and international organizations such as CARICOM and the Commonwealth of Nations, with little success. It is not too late for Guyana to use its membership in the Organization of American States (OAS) to consult and perhaps convince the most influential members in the OAS – especially the United States, Brazil and Argentina – to pressure Venezuela to either drop its claim or let the ICJ resolve the issue. Discrediting the sanctity of the 1899 Award exposes Venezuela’s undiplomatic conduct which poses a very serious threat to Guyana, the Caribbean and beyond.

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