FRESH from Climate Change talks in Bolivia, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a brief stop-over here yesterday on his way home to New York.His visit, albeit fleeting and mere hours before the arrival of a crack team of UN officials to help make peace between Guyana and neighbouring Venezuela, prompted widespread speculation that it must have had to do with the proposed UN-brokered meeting.
Shortly after his arrival, on board a privately owned Bolivian aircraft, Ban met with senior representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the VIP Lounge of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), among them subject minister, Carl Greenidge; Director-General, Audrey Waddle; and Chief of Protocol, Esther Griffith.
His coming here, for the very first time ever, follows his commitment to the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela at the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly held in New York to have an investigative team visit the two countries with the aim of resolving the border controversy.
While Ban made no comments on his brief meeting with the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, it is widely believed that discussions were about the border controversy.
Guyana has maintained that the border issue with Venezuela was settled in 1899 by way of an Arbitral Award; but Venezuela is holding strong to its claim on the Essequibo region.
In May, Venezuela’s illegal claim to the Essequibo resurfaced following an announcement by U.S oil giant, ExxonMobil, of a significant oil find here.
On hearing this, Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour swiftly issued a decree, claiming part of Guyana’s territorial space; that decree was eventually recalled by the Venezuelan President as the international community mounted pressure.
Last month, the situation escalated even further when the Venezuelan military heightened its presence at its end of the Guyana-Venezuela border, while missile-laden vessels were deployed in Guyana’s Cuyuni River.
Guyana viewed the move by Venezuela as “aggressive,” “hostile” and “provocative,” and petitioned the international community to condemn such acts.
Venezuelan Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino Lopez had said that the high presence of marine troops and other military forces near the Guyana border was due to “operational exercises” being conducted by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) in East Venezuela.
President David Granger has indicated that Guyana will go the juridical route to finally resolve the border controversy, as efforts by the United Nations over the years have proved futile.

By Ariana Gordon