THE United Nations (UN) Secretary-General has decided that Guyana and Venezuela are to return to the Good Officers Process for another year with the hope of the two countries coming closer to a resolution on the ongoing border controversy. Outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has indicated that based on the various assessments done over the years, a return to the Good Officers Process is the best option at this point. Guyana has since indicated its acceptance of the decision of the UN Secretary-General.
“The Secretary-General has engaged in intensive efforts to find a way forward that would be most conducive to finding a solution… On the basis of that stocktaking, the Secretary-General has reached the conclusion that the Good Offices Process will continue for one final year, with a new Personal Representative of the Secretary-General (PRSG) with a strengthened mandate of mediation, who will be appointed by the Secretary-General-designate shortly after he takes office,” a statement from the Secretary-General’s Office stated.
Additionally, the Secretary-General has stated that should there be no progress within 2017, then the new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will choose the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the next means of settlement.
“If, by the end of 2017, the Secretary-General concludes that significant progress has not been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, he will choose the International Court of Justice as the next means of settlement, unless both parties jointly request that he refrain from doing so.”
Guyana has long contended that the ICJ is the only option available to bring finality to the border controversy as the Good Officers Process had been exhausted.
However, on Friday night, in a statement to the media, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “The Government of Guyana accepts the decision of the Secretary- General. We stand committed to using our best endeavours to fulfil its highest expectations.”
Indicating its intention to formally write the UN Secretary-General and the President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, to indicate “our acceptance of this decision”, the Guyana Government said it believes that in taking the decision, the Secretary-General has “remained loyal to the sacred mission of the United Nations to uphold the law and maintain the peace between nations – small and large.”
Guyana has also committed to doing “everything in its power to ensure that his expectations, and those of his successor,” are fulfilled.
“The Government calls upon all Guyanese to support the process that now lies ahead in the confidence that it will lead to a just and binding resolution of the discords that have plagued our development for so long. It is a fitting advance in this 50th year of our independence,” the statement said.
Guyana had approached the outgoing Secretary-General of the UN to act in accordance with his obligations under the 1966 Geneva Agreement — to choose another means of settling the border controversy between the two countries, in accordance with Article 33 of the UN Charter, noting that the Good Officers Process was unsuccessful and the only course of resolve is the ICJ.
“We have exhausted all other courses, the one that is left is to go to the courts, and this is what we expect the Secretary-General to do,” President Granger had said.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General’s decisions has been discussed with Secretary-General designate Guterres who is in agreement with them. Both the outgoing Secretary-General and his designate have applauded Guyana and Venezuela for addressing the controversy through peaceful means and have committed to seeing the resolution of the controversy between the two countries.
The United Nations Secretary-General noted that just before Guyana became an independent state some 50 years ago, the two countries signed the Geneva Agreement with the aim of amicably resolving the controversy that had arisen as the result of Venezuela’s contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between Venezuela and what is now Guyana is null and void.
“Within the framework of the Geneva Agreement, a Good Offices Process under the Secretary-General has been in place for the last 25 years in order to find a solution to the controversy. This process has so far involved three Personal Representatives of the Secretary-General (PRSG). In spite of these efforts, it has not been possible to bridge the differences between the parties,” the United Nations Statement said.
A trilateral meeting with Presidents David Granger and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was held in the margins of the UN’s 70th General Assembly, after which the Secretary-General dispatched several high-level missions to both capitals and held meetings at the highest level with both parties.