A DIPLOMATIC roadmap which is expected to be outlined by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in November will serve to resolve the Venezuelan-fuelled border controversy between Guyana and the Spanish-speaking state. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a TeleSUR report published on October 14, 2015, said: “We have agreed that in November the [U.N. Technical] Commission [for the Essequibo controversy] will take part in a second round of talks.”

Unlike those before it, Maduro said that these talks will be aimed at resolving the territorial controversy between the neighbouring countries.
In a meeting with the commission, Maduro posited that the Geneva Agreement successfully revived the issue of Essequibo, “for what I believe is an agreement that marks the first solid steps to be accepted by both parties.”
However, whether this report by Maduro is accurate, Guyana, through Head of State David Granger, has not signalled its acceptance of this decision which was made by the commission, as Maduro claims.
The Venezuelan President further said in the report that he outlined the basis for the Venezuelan claim to Essequibo to the commission. “I explained in detail,” he is reported to have said.
“The [Venezuelan] Head of State reported that positive steps have already been taken, listing the Geneva Agreement and the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between both nations with ambassadors in each other’s capitals,” the TeleSUR report said.
NEW PATH
Additionally, it was highlighted that in the meeting with the UN delegation, Maduro repeated that his government will make its sovereign demands through diplomacy and peace, insisting that the November meeting will design a new path to a solution.
The commission arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday headed by the U.N. Chief of Cabinet to the Executive Office, Susana Malcorra. This succeeded a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Guyana on Sunday last, when he met with Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge.
The Tribunal award which granted Guyana what is now known as Essequibo, had five arbitrators – two from Britain, two from the U.S. (representing Venezuela’s interest) and one from Russia, who were presumed neutral.
The Tribunal settlement which was agreed to by both parties at the time ruled largely in favour of Britain and granted most of the territory to Guyana. However, the Venezuelan representatives, not satisfied with the outcome, claimed that Britain had unduly influenced the decision of the Russian member of the tribunal, and protested the outcome.
OIL FIND
What perhaps offended Venezuela the most, to renew their claim to the territory, was the actual arrival of ExxonMobil’s Deepwater Champion oil drilling rig earlier this year.
In early May this year, ExxonMobil – the giant U.S. oil company currently drilling for oil, announced that it had found significant deposits of oil in the Stabroek Bloc, located 120 miles offshore Guyana – waters now being claimed by Venezuela.
However, the most recent episode of Venezuela’s dissatisfaction with the settlement followed ExxonMobil’s announcement of the reserves. As a result, Maduro renewed Venezuela’s claims to the territory which has been acknowledged as Guyana’s by the international community.
Following the oil find, two decrees were issued by Maduro, and armed Venezuelan troops were deployed at locations close to the Guyana/Venezuela border as well as armed boats belonging to Venezuela began traversing the Cuyuni River which falls within Guyana’s territory. However, this military presence was scaled back following a meeting between Granger, Maduro and the UN Secretary General at the UN Headquarters in New York last month.
Maduro had committed to restoring normal diplomatic relations with Guyana, and seeking a peaceful resolution to the issue. He also committed to, and fulfilled his promise of reinstating the Venezuela ambassador to Guyana which was done last week.
But President David Granger has reiterated that Guyana would be seeking to move to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to have the controversy resolved once and for all.
Making his debut presentation to the United Nations General Assembly last month, the President said, “Our message will be that we have to resolve this matter by juridical means. We will be going to court; we are not interested any longer in any sterile Good Officer Process. We are going to go to court and settle this matter. It is affecting our development too long; 50 years is too long.”
Succeeding this however, Jorge Alfonzo Guerrero Veloz, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Grenada, accused the United States of fueling the controversy, despite the call by the United States for a peaceful resolution to the issue.
Veloz was of this conviction, due to the fact that President Barack Obama earlier this year listed the Spanish-speaking country as a threat to the national security of the U.S., and because ExxonMobil is a U.S.-based company.
However, newly accredited U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway has weighed in on the issue, offering that the two countries should push for “a peaceful resolution, continued dialogue and respect for international law.”
Prior to his official appointment, Holloway had told the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate that any country making claims to territory must respect the law of the sea and international obligations which govern same.
Holloway had further disclosed that the U.S. remains committed to encouraging both countries to reach a “peaceful resolution.”
This content of the TeleSUR article was originally published at the following address:
“http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Maduro-Solution-to-Essequibo-Dispute-to-Be-Announced-November-20151014-0037.html”