IN the light of a Reuters report carried in yesterday’s edition of the paper titled ‘Guyana oil exploration stirs up Venezuela border dispute’, which implied that there was a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela, the Guyana Chronicle wishes to state that on the contrary, there is no land boundary dispute between the two countries. The boundary between the Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was established by the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 that was handed down pursuant to the Treaty of Washington of February 2, 1897.  What currently exists is a controversy as a result of Venezuela’s contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 is null and void.
Guyana and Venezuela have committed themselves to the Good Offices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to assist them in the search for a means of settlement of the controversy that has arisen from the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award is null and void.