By Ravin Singh
PRESIDENT David Granger is hopeful that the outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will declare a move to the International Court of Justice within four months to settle once and for all the border controversy with Venezuela. His comment came at the start of Wednesday’s meetings of the 37th Heads of Government meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Guyana’s border controversy with Venezuela dates back to over a century, with renewed and forceful claims after the American oil firm ExxonMobil announced a giant oil find offshore Guyana last year.
With the oil discovery approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana, Venezuela extended its land claim and sought this country’s Atlantic front. The decree, deemed by the President as “obnoxious,” was withdrawn after CARICOM backed Guyana in the controversy.
It was back in 1966, on the eve of Guyana’s independence from Britain, that Venezuela claimed the 1899 arbitral award which settled the countries’ borders was null and void.
That triggered the so-called Geneva Agreement, which mandated the United Nations Secretary- General to dictate a mechanism to settle the controversy as provided for in Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations.
The then UN Secretary-General selected the Good Officers Process as one of the specific means available under the Charter. However, President Granger contended last year that after 25 years, the Good Officers Process has been exhausted.
“It is, therefore, not an infraction, but a fulfilment, of the Geneva Agreement to seek another peaceful option if one tried option failed to resolve the controversy,” the President had said.
Subsequently, there was a proposed resolution, as was promised by the Venezuelan delegation at the 36th Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Conference last year.
Topical during the four-day meet, the border dispute garnered support in favour of Guyana from the regional bloc. This followed President Granger’s pleading with CARICOM to reaffirm its collective support for the principles enshrined in international law for safeguarding territorial integrity, sovereignty and national independence.
And with CARICOM reaffirming its support for Guyana, President David Granger said on Wednesday that Guyana was very fortunate at the last Heads of Government meeting to get Venezuela to withdraw and change its “obnoxious decree.”
However, the Head of State made it clear that presently, Guyana is not satisfied with a dormant status of the border spat.
“Right now we’re not satisfied, but CARICOM is aware of the developments which have taken place and is in full support of Guyana’s sovereignty. The Commonwealth is in support of Guyana’s sovereignty. So as far as the Venezuelan claim is concerned, this is something that is not necessarily invented for the petroleum matter. It has been bothering Guyana for the last 50 years and we want to bring it to a juridical conclusion at this point in time,” Granger said.
He went on to express his hope in the UN’s Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon choosing a course for the peaceful resolution of the controversy.
“That’s his [Ban Ki-moon’s] job – to simply select a course and it is up to Guyana and Venezuela to pursue that course. And our selection is the course that will take us to the courts” the President added.
But according to him, he remains hopeful that Mr Ban will make a decision on the course of action before he demits office in the near future.
“All Mr. Ban Ki-moon has to do within the remaining months and weeks of his office is select a course that doesn’t involve warfare… we’ve asked him to choose a course that would take the controversy to a juridical settlement and we hope he does this within the next four months before he demits office,” the President said.
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth UN Secretary-General, who first took up office on January 1, 2007. In 2011, he was unanimously re-elected by the General Assembly and will serve until December 31, 2016.
Last year, the UN announced that for the first time in its history, the 193 member states, including those of the Caribbean, will be included “totally” in the selection of the next UN Secretary-General.