…of UN’s response to juridical settlement on border controversy

GUYANA remains hopeful that there will be a favourable response to its request for a juridical settlement to the border controversy with Venezuela before United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demits office in December.

Speaking with Guyanese journalists at Guyana’s Mission in New York on Monday, President David Granger said he is satisfied with what the UN Secretary General has done thus far in the process, but noted his displeasure with Venezuela’s approach to the matter.

“I am satisfied with what the Secretary General has done. I am not satisfied that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has acted in good faith…

“After 50 years, we had hoped we would have been further along the line towards a solution. It is quite clear to us that much more need to be done by Venezuela if this matter is to be resolved,” President Granger said.

The President praised the work of Mr. Ban ahead of his address on Tuesday at the 71st United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

“We are satisfied that he has been working within the limitations of his office,” the President said.

Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Michael Ten-Pow; and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal, President Granger made it clear that the UN Secretary General has been the most engaged of the Secretaries General on the issue over the last 50 years.

“I have not seen a Secretary General so engaged in this matter… He has done everything possible, particularly within the last year… since our first meeting in Bridgetown, to ensure that his Chef de Cabinet, his representatives, shuttle between Caracas and Georgetown; and whenever we’ve met, he is always fully abreast with the controversy.”

The UN Secretary General visited Guyana last October, just after concluding climate change talks in Bolivia. At the 2015 United Nations General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon had promised the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela to have an investigative team visit the two countries with the aim of resolving the border controversy.
Shortly after his visit to Guyana, his Chef de Cabinet at the time, Susanna Malcorra, and a team of UN officials visited Guyana and Venezuela to conduct their investigations on the matter.

Guyana has maintained that the juridical route is best suited to end the ongoing border controversy with Venezuela. Venezuela, on the other hand, has called for a restart of the Good Officer’s Process.

President Granger has said he is convinced of Mr. Ban’s “sincerity in trying to bring this matter to closure”. “I am very hopeful that this Secretary General, given his engagement over the last year or more, is going to do something that is going to lead to a favourable outcome,” he remarked.

Like President Granger, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge agreed that the UN Secretary General has “gone a long way towards trying to work on both parties to take steps necessary to resolve the matter”.

“At this point in time, we can’t tell you whether that process has actually gone forward in a meaningful way… We’d have to wait on him to see what he says,” said Greenidge.

President Granger and team are likely to meet with the UN Secretary General on Saturday; that meeting is yet to be confirmed. He has said that, with the UN Secretary General recognising Guyana’s position on the border controversy, it is Guyana’s hope that the Secretary General can provide an “assessment as to what happened [since] the last time we met… How he proposes to move, if not between now and the future, then certainly between now and when he demits office”.

The option chosen by the Secretary General may not be revealed at the upcoming meeting with Guyana, Minister Greenidge has disclosed.
“It is essentially to exercise the responsibility that has been given to him in the context of the Geneva Agreement, in recognition of the fact that the two sides cannot agree on the way forward to resolve the controversy over whether or not the 1899 arbitral award is null and void.”

Guyana has maintained its position that the border issue with Venezuela has been settled in 1899 by way of an Arbitral Award; but Venezuela is holding strong to its claim on the Essequibo region.

In May 2015, Venezuela’s illegal claim to the Essequibo resurfaced following an announcement by US oil giant ExxonMobil of a significant oil find here. Following that announcement, Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour issued a decree claiming part of Guyana’s territorial space. The decree was subsequently recalled by Venezuela’s President following increased pressure from the international community.

BILATERAL TALKS
President Granger would also be addressing the issue of climate change and Guyana’s commitment to ensuring a greener world. He said Guyana is “way ahead” of other territories, and noted that the country will put forward its Policy Statement at the UN.

In 1989, three years before the Rio Summit, Guyana dedicated a huge area of its territory — 371,000 square kilometres — to the Commonwealth and the world, to prove we could manage our environment in a sustainable manner.

Guyana has very firmly adopted a “green agenda”, and is part of the Guiana Shield, which contains “the most unique bio-diversity in the world”, President Granger has said, while stating that the country is “part of the lungs of the Earth”.

Guyana last Wednesday inked a US$5M agreement with the German Government to support implementation of the third phase of an ongoing programme to develop protected areas in the country.
The President said the work that Germany has been doing in the field of biodiversity and in supporting Guyana’s environmental drive is providing a global service.

Guyana committed to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), not only to extend existing protected areas, but also to create new ones.

President Granger noted that with Guyana’s ongoing relations with the Kingdom of Norway, this country is ensuring that the message of Guyana’s green economy is one that is delivered to potential investors.

“We want to see green energy -– solar, air, hydro, bio-gas generation; we want to contribute to countering the effects of climate change; we want to protect our own coastal zone; we want to provide education in bio-diversity, develop eco-tourism, exports.”

Meanwhile, Minister Greenidge said Guyana will be participating in several bilateral meetings over the next few days. He said CARICOM member states will be speaking to the United States, Japan, and other countries on the issue of correspondent banking and regional security, among other issues.

Additionally, CARICOM will be speaking with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) on its future and the way forward.

The Foreign Affairs Minister also said that the report of the “Wise men” (group) will be discussed.
Additionally, Guyana has bilateral meetings planned with Fiji, India and Nigeria with the intention to look at deepening political and economic ties.