Clock ticks on Guyana, Venezuela border controversy

Oct 31, 2017 News

…As two-day meeting concludes with U.N. Envoy
The latest round of formal talks between Guyana and Venezuela ended on Sunday with a commitment from both sides for future engagements on the border controversy through the Good Officer Process spearheaded by

Vice-President and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guyana, Carl Greenidge and Venezuela Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza

Personal Representative of the Secretary General, Dag Nylander.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the SecretaryGeneral, confirmed the two-day meeting in New York between the delegations of the South American countries. Guyana’s delegation was led by Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge while Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza led the Venezuela contingent.
“The Foreign Ministers and their delegations exchanged views on issues related to the controversy with the aim of exploring options for a full agreement for its resolution. They also reaffirmed their commitment to the Good Offices process,” Dujarric stated yesterday.
Since his appointment on February 27, last, Nylander has visited Guyana four times and held talks with President, David Granger and Minister Greenidge, among others.
Additionally, in September, the Guyana delegation to the General Debate of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly met with the Secretary-General as well as. Nylander also held informal discussions with Venezuelan counterparts.
In 2015, Guyana requested the U.N. Secretary-General to take steps toward a resolution of the controversy using an option from the menu as stated in the Geneva Agreement of February 17, 1966. This decision was reached after Venezuela contended that the Arbitral Award of 1899, about the frontier between Venezuela and what is now Guyana, is null and void.
Further, last year, as a consequence of a stalemate on the matter, former U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon agreed with his successor, Mr. António Guterres, to continue to use the Good Officer Process until the end of 2017 as a means of arriving at a settlement.
If, by the end of this year, the Secretary-General concludes that no significant progress has been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, he will choose the International Court of Justice as the next means of settlement, unless the Governments of Guyana and Venezuela jointly request that he refrain from doing so.”
Guyana has maintained that the only way to settle the controversy is by way of a juridical settlement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Venezuela’s claim to two-thirds of Guyana has escalated over the years, with various shows of aggression and harassment.

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