Venezuela border controversy: Peace, stability must prevail in Western Hemisphere – US top defence official

…says controversy ‘most appropriately’ dealt with through legal channels

The United States (US) Government is in support of a resolution of the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy through legal and diplomatic channels, in maintaining stability and peace across the Western Hemisphere.
Sharing this position was visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for the Western Hemisphere at the United States Department of Defense, Daniel P Erikson on Tuesday.

Asked how the US envisions working with regional stakeholders amid the border controversy, Erikson told the local media that the meeting between Guyanese President, Dr Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and subsequent outcomes of this engagement was followed closely.
He positioned that the United States supports the continuation of respect for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Erikson asserted, “We think it is also important that we see what the outcome is in the ICJ as it relates to this ongoing controversy. We are highly focused, however, on ensuring that the United States and Guyana have a robust defence relationship at the bilateral level.”
In responding to the question of sending its troops here to bolster local defence capabilities, Erikson pointed out that since the matter has reached a point of relative de-escalation, the US views it important to maintain peace and stability across the hemisphere. This is achievable through diplomatic channels.
“We think it is extremely important to maintain peace and stability throughout the Western Hemisphere and that includes Guyana as well. Looking forward, we think this is most appropriately dealt with through diplomatic and international legal channels rather than through the military.”

Venezuela’s aggression
After abiding by the 1899 Arbitral Award for over half a century, Venezuela in 1962 claimed that the Essequibo area of Guyana belonged inside its borders. This contention heated up after ExxonMobil found oil in Guyana in 2015 and was intensified last year, with Venezuela holding a referendum on December 3, 2023, in which they voted to annex the Essequibo.
Following the referendum, Maduro claimed that, among other things, he would authorise oil exploration in Guyana’s Essequibo River. Maduro had also announced the activation of a human and social care plan for the population of Guyana’s Essequibo that includes censuses and identity cards.
The Venezuelan President also announced that in addition to oil, he would be issuing licences for mining and other activities to be conducted in Guyana’s Essequibo County.
The Maduro regime has been untruthfully claiming that Venezuela demonstrated that the award issued in 1899 by the Paris Arbitration Court was “null and void” and that a solution to the controversy under the Geneva Agreement must be amicably resolved in a manner that is acceptable to both parties, ignoring that such discussions had failed for over 30 years and that the Geneva Agreement provided for the Secretary General of the United Nations to choose another path for the settlement of the controversy if not settled by discussion between the two countries.
Maduro also ignored the fact that the Secretary General, in accord with the Agreement, on January 30, 2018, had advised both Venezuela and Guyana that “having carefully analysed the developments in the good offices process during the course of 2017” and “significant progress not having been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy”, he had “chosen the International Court of Justice as the means now to be used for its solution”.
On January 30, 2018, Secretary General António Guterres, following a careful analysis of developments in 2017, chose the ICJ as the means to be used for the solution of the controversy.
As a consequence, Guyana, on March 29, 2018, filed its application to the World Court.
In the substantive case, Guyana seeks, among other things, to obtain from the ICJ a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then-British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid and binding, and a declaration that Essequibo belongs to Guyana.

Argyle Declaration
As tensions intensified, on December 14, 2023, in Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Presidents Ali and Maduro held discussions on matters consequential to the territory involved in the border controversy.
After more than eight hours of engagements, the two Heads of State agreed that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, will not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstance, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States.
In a joint declaration, the Heads also agreed that any controversy between the two States would be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966.
The two countries had also committed to the pursuance of good neighbourliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was also agreed that both States would refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any controversy.
These talks were largely brokered by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves in his role as President Pro Tempore of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), and came in the wake of a discussion President Ali held with the leadership of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerritt, was at the engagement, as well as Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a key supporter of the talks, was also represented. (G12)