OVER the last few years, this column has carried articles on the Venezuela/Guyana border controversy, and on this occasion, we again revisit it in view of the outrageously false, contradictory and unfactual narrative that the Venezuelans continue to retail. We will also revisit the Venezuelan Parliament’s and President Maduro’s lawless action of passing laws “annexing” approximately 70% of Guyana’s territory, naming it the province of Essequiba Guyana, and even appointing a governor.

This comedy of insanity would normally have been derisively ignored, but it has to be taken with seriousness, since Venezuela has a huge modern military which is controlled by persons who may recklessly invade Guyana’s territory, since they mentally and psychologically live in the times of Napoleon and Bolivar when stronger countries could invade and annex weaker countries or parts of them with impunity. Tolerance of such aggression has long passed away in international law and relations, and this has led to Venezuela’s isolation and almost universal support for Guyana.

Another reason why Venezuela is not treated with respect is its duplicity and failure to honour its agreements.  The Argyle Declaration, in which Guyana and Venezuela solemnly pledged themselves from any threatening and aggressive action towards each other, and the Barbados Agreement, where President Maduro undertook to allow the Venezuelan Opposition freedom to contest the forthcoming national elections in exchange for the lifting of American sanctions are two examples of Venezuela failing to honour its promises.

What was the genesis of the Controversy?

By the Treaty of Paris of 1815, which ended the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was awarded the Dutch colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice which were united as the colony of British Guiana in 1831. In the 1840s, the British employed a German cartographer, Robert Schomburgk, to demarcate the boundaries of the colony, which he successfully completed.  Venezuela claimed that Schomburgk had taken part of their territory.  The British, who at the time ran a world empire, could not turn their attention to Venezuela’s claim, which was comparatively unimportant.
At that time, the United States was resuscitating the Monroe Doctrine, and Venezuela asked them to press  their claim with Britain for Arbitration of the Guyana /Venezuela border.

President Cleveland even threatened war, and Britain reluctantly became a party to the Treaty of Washington with Venezuela in 1897, wherein Venezuela insisted that the Treaty be arbitral.  The Treaty was signed by Jose Andrade and ratified by the Venezuelan Congress, with Joaquin Crespo, its President, describing it as “an effort of intelligence and goodwill worthy of praise and thanks from us” .  Venezuela appointed the Chief Justice of the United States as its arbitrator, and Britain appointed a Judge of equal status, with the chairman being a famed Russian international jurist.

The Arbitral Award was to be ” a full, perfect and final settlement of all questions referred to the Arbitrators”.   In their work, the Arbitrators scoured the archives of Spain, Holland, and Britain and conducted as thorough an investigation as possible.  The Arbitral Award was made in 1899, and Venezuela and all parties fully accepted it, with Venezuela being particularly jubilant.
Venezuela insisted that the demarcation of the boundary be done with immediacy, and in 1900, a Joint Boundary Commission was established and British and Venezuelan surveyors went to work in demarcating the boundary which they completed in 1905 with Venezuela fully accepting it.  Venezuela did so until 1962, when Guyana was about to be granted its Independence.  Britain was anxious to withdraw from the colony, and in 1966, the Geneva Agreement was arrived at, wherein the Controversy was to be settled in four years thus allowing Britain to grant Guyana its Independence unhindered. Both parties, however, chose to use the Good Offices dialogue process under United Nations auspices, which went on for nearly three decades without coming to a solution.

Both parties withdrew from the Good Offices process, and the matter was then reverted to the Secretary General, who was obligated to recommend a solution.  He recommended that the matter be referred to the International Court of Justice.  Guyana duly went to the ICJ, but Venezuela said the Court did not have jurisdiction in the matter.  The ICJ  and everyone else rejected the Venezuelan position, and the ICJ is now deliberating on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award.

It should be mentioned that Venezuela has proffered two points to try to negate the Arbitral Award: The first is that Guyana was part of the Venezuelan Captain Generalcy under the Spanish Empire. Guyana was never part of the Captain Generalcy and there was never any  Spanish colonial presence in  “the Wild Coast of Guyana”. The 1899 Arbitrators rejected this Venezuelan allegation.  The second point was a posthumous letter by Mallet-Prevost, one of the junior lawyers at the Arbitration who claimed that the British and Russian judges conspired to rig the Arbitration in favour of Britain.  No evidence or proof of Mallet-Prevost’s allegation was ever forthcoming from the Venezuelans.

The question is asked as to why Venezuela has been making this fraudulent and dangerous claim on Guyana’s territory at this time. The answer that is universally given is that Venezuela is actuated by greed for Guyana’s newfound oil wealth, which it feels could be seized with impunity since Guyana is a small, poor state with a very small military. Secondly, the Venezuelan national elections will occur within a year. President Maduro, who is contesting another term of office, is bound to lose. In his desperation, he is threatening war on Guyana to seize its territory to stimulate nationalism and increase his electoral support.

Venezuela recognises that it has no case in fact, logic and law. So, it is reverting to threats of military violence to intimidate Guyana and seize its territory.
Still, the Venezuelan aggression has been adequately met by Guyana and its allies, in particular the United States.  The policy of the United States, Guyana, CARICOM, Brazil and the other American states in maintaining the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace has deterred Venezuelan military adventurism, but the danger has not passed away and still requires constant vigilance.