– President pleased with opposition, gov’t cooperation in Guyana v Venezuela border controversy

PRESIDENT David Granger is pleased that the government and opposition are collaborating on the Arbitral Award of 1899 – Guyana v. Venezuela case, an event which he believes is the single most important international issue for the country.

On June 30, 2020, international lawyers representing Guyana put forward legal arguments to a panel of judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking to obtain a final and binding judgment. The judgment being sought is that the 1899 Arbitral Award which established the location of the land boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid, and that the Essequibo region belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela.

While Guyana was represented by legal luminaries of the likes of Sir Shridath Ramphal, Philippe Sands, Paul Reichler, Payam Akhavan and Alain Pellet, representative of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Gail Teixeira and Foreign Secretary and Agent of Guyana in the case before the ICJ, Carl B. Greenidge, viewed the hearing of the case at the ICJ, collectively, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Also present were Ambassador Audrey Waddell; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rashleigh Jackson and Ambassador Cedric Joseph.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a ceremony at State House on Wednesday, President Granger noted his pleasure: “We have a collaborative response by the opposition and the government in representing Guyana’s national interest.”

The President said that the Guyana v. Venezuela case is very important to all of Guyana, as it represents a hopeful end to the threat to Guyana’s sovereignty and development.

In his first year in office in 2015, the President sought meetings with former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and, subsequently, current Secretary-General, António Guterres, to bring a favourable closure to the territorial issue.

On Wednesday he said that he is pleased that Guterres decided to refer the matter to the ICJ for a final ruling.

“The territorial question has been an enormous burden for this country to bear; for the foreign service, for the Defence Force and for the people of this country who have been denied the ability and the opportunity to develop the hinterland. For generations to come, who have seen that their maritime resources have been threatened by aggressive actions by our neighbor; the expulsion of unarmed, civilian exploration vessels. It is difficult to find any international event or occurrence more important than the territorial question,” the President said.

Questioned by the media about the justification for setting aside US$15M from the US$18M ExxonMobil signing bonus to cover legal fees for the case, the President said that the sum was used to ensure that Guyana was equipped with the best possible defence.

“Yes, money had to be spent, it is not cheap and it is not simple. It is not something for a lawyer who specialises in divorce and landlord and tenant. We had to get the best international lawyers and yes, money has been spent to employ those lawyers and I’m very confident in their ability to bring about a solution to this 54-year problem that Guyana’s people, now and in the future, could be satisfied with,” he said.

The hearing was conducted at the Peace Palace in The Hague with virtual presentations being done by Guyana in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.