IN THESE times of international conflicts — some very costly in human and material resources — in various regions of the world, it is encouraging to know that the governments of  border neighbours, Guyana and Venezuela have chosen the path of political maturity by resorting to the United Nations Good Offices mechanism to deal with the recent misunderstanding that arose from a claim in Caracas over this country’s notification to the UN of intention to extend its continental shelf.
That initiative, consistent with Guyana’s commitment as a signatory to the Law of the Sea Convention and without prejudice to the 1966 Geneva Accord, was undertaken by the Guyanese government back in 2009, when it was so advised the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
However,  due to an apparent misinterpretation, there was a communication from the government in Caracas expressing concern about not receiving prior information about Guyana’s decision to extend its continental shelf  “in the hope of finding oil and gas,” as explained last week by Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodriques-Birkett.
The Foreign Minister’s statement was quite specific in recalling that a diplomatic note on the proposed extension of this country’s continental shelf was forwarded to the Venezuelan embassy here in Guyana on May 13, 2009, with a copy of the preliminary information and data sent to the UN Secretary-General.
Regrettably, while the government here was extending all relevant courtesies, and maintaining desired cordial relations with Venezuela, without prejudice to its historical commitment to preservation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of this country, there emerged a strange warning from an opposition Venezuelan congressman (Carlos Berrizbeitia) to the country’s “High Military Command not to be silent” on what he termed a “violation of sovereignty” by Guyana in relation to areas in the Essequibo region.
In his apparent anxiety to score a political point against the Venezuelan government of President Chavez, the opposition congressman may have forgotten, or expediently ignored the reality, that proposed extension of Guyana’s continental shelf was quite within its sovereignty, and does not constitute a violation of either the spirit or letter of the UN Good Offices process in relation to the original dispute that had arisen from Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s defined territorial boundaries.
Nevertheless, it is good that the governments of Guyana and Venezuela have opted to refer the matter to the UN Good Offices process for which the well known Caribbean scholar, Professor Norman Girvan, is the mutually accepted mediator.
In the circumstances, it is important that both countries avoid misunderstandings by public statements, and focus on how best to methodically and effectively make good use of the UN Good Offices process for resolution of an age-old territorial dispute.