The delineation of our western border, upon a demand by Venezuela invoking the US Monroe Doctrine, was established by an international arbitral panel in which Venezuela appointed a representative. Pursuant to the award on October 3rd,1899, which conclusively categorizes itself as “full, perfect and final”, a mixed commission physically demarcated the boundary and filed their report on January 10th,1905. Venezuela accepted the new boundary.
However, the publication of a book by Dr. Calos Alamo Ibbataa in 1933 questioned the award and concluded it was not based on legal principles but on a diplomatic or political comprise forced on the American arbitrators in order to prevent the Orinoco from belonging to Britain. The work precipitated a palpable response among Venezuelans and by the late 1940s it was an article of faith among Venezuelans they had been “robbed”. In March 1962 President Romulo Betancourt stated that Venezuela would proceed to recover the ‘Guyana-Essequibo area through peaceful means.’ He was given support by all opposition parties.
There has been much speculation as to Betancourt’s motive in raising the issue; the reasons are important for they would play a critical role in the history of the dispute. The most credible was suggested by Leslie B. Ront and demonstrates the importance of domestic politics on the foreign relations of nations. Betancourt became close to US President Kennedy after, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, when the latter was determined to prevent “another Cuba’ in the Western Hemisphere. Our then British Guiana was struggling for independence under the Premier Cheddi Jagan, who. after visiting Kennedy in September 1961, was adjudged by the latter that he was either Marxist or susceptible to such influences. Keneddy visited Betancourt in December 1961.
Betancourt also faced guerrilla activities from the Revolutionary Left Movement (M.I.R.) in the Guyana border area which was supported by Fidel Castro, with whom Venezuela had broken diplomatic relations on November 11,1961. In February of 1962, riots were precipitated by the C.I.A. in Georgetown in an effort to destabilize the Jagan government and prevent independence from being granted. The C.I.A’s effort was channeled through Latin American regional trade union organizations affiliated with the American labour movement. The liaison was Serafino Romualdi, the Latin American representative of the American Federation of Labour (AFL)who was Betancourt’s closest American associate.
Betancourt, it is proposed, raised the Venezuela-Guyana border dispute for the following three possible reasons. Firstly, at the suggestion of the United States, through Romualdi, to create a ‘diversion’ to prevent Britain from granting independence to the Marxist Jagan until the issue was settled. Secondly, Betancourts own fears of a communist state as its neighbour, which could support the Marxist guerrillas. And thirdly as a nationalist issue to unify the opposition—which it did, in support of him.
The reasons are not mutually exclusive and in fact it is most probable that it was a combination of all three that made Betancourt resuscitate the border dispute. The problem for Venezuela was that Betancourts plan was too successful. When the United States decided to support Jagan’s more moderate opponent Forbes Burnham after the latter’s Washington visited of May 1962, Betancourt had unleashed had to go force he could not stop. The nation was aroused and Betancourt had to go forward. In any event it provided ‘insurance’ to the United States in the event Jagan could not be removed from office.
On October 1,1962, before the General Assembly of the United Nations in is seventeenth session, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Falcon Briceno presented his nation’s position on a subject they had inserted in the Assembly’s agenda: “Questions of the boundaries between Venezuela and British Guiana.” This was the first time that Venezuela in an official capacity had protested the Arbitral Award. By claiming it was a ‘nullity’ Venezuela precipitated a controversy which will be finally resolved by the ICJ, an organ of the UN, that was invoked by the Geneva Agreement Venezuela signed in 1966.
The ICJ will confirm the validity of the Award.
