By Ariana Gordon

PRESIDENT David Granger on Friday said he is pleased with the progress being made by the United Nations to bring a peaceful resolution to the decades-old border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.He made the comment following a meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at the UN’s New York Headquarters to discuss the matter.

President Granger was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, along with Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, George Talbot.
In an interview immediately following the meeting with the UN Secretary-General, President Granger told reporters that Guyana has expressed its satisfaction with the work that is being done by the United Nations Secretary-General in an attempt to bring the border controversy to a “successful conclusion.”

On February 17, Guyana observed the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Agreement, which involved the United Kingdom, Guyana and Venezuela.
“Guyana, in a few days, will observe its Republic anniversary, and so we made the point that the entire existence of Guyana as an independent state had been living under the shadow of an unjustified territorial claim by Venezuela to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory,” said President Granger.
The President stressed that Guyana is at a point where it believes that nothing else but a juridical settlement can bring an end to the controversy.

“Today was basically a matter of updating the Secretary-General on Guyana’s position,” he said, noting that Guyana has cooperated with every initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the last 10 months.

“We will continue to work within the framework of the United Nations and the Geneva Agreement, to ensure there is a peaceful settlement to this controversy; one that is acceptable not only to the Guyanese people, but also the Venezuelan people, and always by virtue of the United Nations.”

President Granger said, too, it is critical that the international community be made aware of Guyana’s contributions to the peaceful resolution to the controversy.

When asked by the media for his message to the UN Secretary-General, given Guyana’s complaints against Venezuela’s attitude on the issue, President Granger said Guyana held firm to its position that the only means of resolving the border controversy is to go the juridical route — something which only the UN Secretary-General can decide based on the obligations bestowed upon him.

“We were very cooperative from the onset. As you are aware, we were pursuing the end through a juridical resolution. We felt that Venezuela was not actually behaving in good faith; it was dilatory and was not cooperating as fully as we expected,” he stated.

The President referred to the meetings that were held in both Guyana and Venezuela by the UN Mission team headed by former Chef de Cabinet Susanna Malcorra.

“We are anxious to move the process forward quickly. We have accepted the delegations…and we feel Venezuela has not been doing the same.”

Time, the President added, is passing, while pointing out that Guyana is celebrating its 50th Independence Anniversary. “For 50 years, we have not been able to bring this matter to a conclusion. We wish to deal with that more promptly through the initiatives of the UN Secretary-General,” President Granger told reporters.
The President stressed that the entire legal and peaceful process is currently in the hands of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and it is he who has an obligation and responsibility under the Geneva Agreement to determine the course of action [going] forward.

APPEAL
“We’d like that course of action to be consensual, and we’d like to urge Venezuela to cooperate more fully with the UN Secretary-General,” the President said.

On the issue of lobbying regional bodies on the border controversy, President Granger reminded journalists that it is the United Nations Secretary-General who is responsible for the resolution of the controversy, and not regional bodies of which Guyana is a member.
“It is not that we are unwilling…we do not feel anymore juice could be squeezed out of the regional orange,” President Granger said, noting that Guyana is prepared, as Venezuela says, to have the matter resolved by the UN Secretary-General.

Granger noted that Guyana is a member of several regional bodies, including the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), MERCOSUR, the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); and Guyana has been voicing its concern over Venezuela’s unjustified claims to Guyana’s territory for 50 years.

“This is very much a work in progress. We have not felt that any of the initiatives have been able to bear fruit in terms of bilateral or any other efforts,” said President Granger. Asked whether he is concerned about the change in the Chef de Cabinet to the United Nations, President Granger said he is not at all worried about the change in Chef de Mission, noting that the border controversy is in the hands of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Susanna Malcorra was well known in Guyana because of her positive attitude, and I think she ably represented the UN Secretary-General in trying to bring this matter to a conclusion. It is a pity she has been promoted; but we are confident that the Secretary-General’s choice will continue the good work of the office, and he personally has been engaged and I don’t think he is going to take his hands off the process.”

President Granger noted that although Guyana was impressed with, and misses, Malcorra’s commitment, he is confident that Edmond Mulet, the new Chef de Cabinet, will continue the good work. Mulet was appointed by Ban Ki-moon on November 24 last year after Malcorra took up her post as Argentina’s Foreign Relations Minister.

“Right now we would not advocate a reversal or resort to any other process, as we have passed through all those processes… The stage we are at is on the desk of the UN Secretary-General,” President Granger said.

He is hopeful that, within a few months, Guyana can receive a follow-up from the UN Secretary-General on the border controversy.