Guyana still awaiting assessment from UN

After committing back in September to produce an assessment on the way forward in relation to the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, Guyana is still awaiting the pronouncement from United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

FLASHBACK: President David Granger and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during their 2015 engagement with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
FLASHBACK: President David Granger and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during their 2015 engagement with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

The outgoing Secretary General had assured Head of State David Granger on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly held in New York over three months ago that he would make an assessment of the situation between the neighbouring South American nations by the end of November, ahead of his retirement the following month.

The assessment is expected to outline the next step to be taken in the border controversy, which will then be referred to the International Court of Justice for a final and definitive ruling, thus bringing an end to the issue that has affected Guyana’s development over the past 50 years.

However, during a special edition of the local televised programme – The Public Interest – which was recorded in Barbados on Thursday and aired locally Friday evening, President Granger posited that the assessment will probably be given sometime this month, since Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to demit office on December 31.

“I would only say let us wait and see… I don’t want to get ahead of the game. Foreign Affairs Minister (Carl Greenidge) was with Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon up to (last) week and we are awaiting the assessment. We were expecting it in November but it will probably come in December,” the Head of State noted.

Moreover, the President remarked that during Minister Greenidge’s recent visit, he also met with incoming Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a process designed to secure the promised recommendation.

For decades, Venezuela has laid claim to nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass – the Essequibo.

In fact, the border controversy which was not on Venezuela’s front burner for several years after being first officially mooted in 1962, was reignited by the Spanish-speaking country, when US oil giant ExxonMobil began exploratory works in the Stabroek Block offshore the Essequibo.

With Guyana on the verge of becoming a lucrative oil-producing nation, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree in May last year purporting to claim the majority of Guyana’s waters off of the Essequibo shore.

The decree was seen as a flagrant violation of international law and was inconsistent with the principle that all states should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states.

In an effort to defend its sovereignty, Guyana made it clear to the Venezuelan Government that the Essequibo and its offshore waters belong to Guyana, and strengthened its push for judicial settlement of the issue, as the Good Officer process had yielded little result.

The border dispute between the two countries was set by an international tribunal in 1899, in an award the parties, including Venezuela, had agreed would be the final settlement. Since the belligerence from Venezuela, moves have been made by the international community, including the UN Secretary General, to push for a peaceful resolution of the issue.

The Guyanese Leader and President Maduro had met with the outgoing UN Secretary General for the first time in September last year to discuss the controversy. The meeting was dubbed fruitful as both Heads of Government pledged to mend the bilateral relationship while attempts are being made to resolve the border controversy.