Venezuela reiterates claim to territory in Guyana
By Gilles Trequesser
CARACAS, (Reuters) - Venezuela yesterday revived a century-old border dispute with Guyana over a mineral-rich area the size of Florida, probably the last major territorial dispute in the Americas. Venezuela claims almost two-thirds of Guyana, an English-speaking enclave on the northeastern shoulder of South America. The dispute revolves around the Essequibo region, a 61,000-square mile (158,000-square km) unpopulated area thought to be rich in minerals, including gold and diamonds. Britain, then the colonial power over British Guiana, and Venezuela argued over the boundary for much of the 19th century before accepting the decision of an international Tribunal of Arbitration in 1899. The dispute resurfaced half a century later following the death of Venezuela's lawyer at the talks. He said in a letter opened posthumously that the settlement was void because it was the result of a secret deal. The dispute has simmered since then, with the United Nations eventually becoming involved. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said yesterday it considered the "painful" act signed exactly 100 years ago, on October 3, 1899, in Paris, to be "null and an irritant." The ministry said in a statement that the agreement "illegally stripped our country of Essequibo." The ministry added it would continue to seek with Guyana "satisfactory solutions" to the "controversy" under the auspices of the United Nations, which in 1989 named a mediator in the dispute. Some Caracas-based diplomats have said the Essequibo issue was bound to assume a larger significance after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken nationalist, took office eight months ago. "We have started to take some actions in the past few months in order to bring the issue to the negotiating table," Chavez told reporters on Saturday. He did not elaborate. Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela, Bayney Karran, said he doubted Chavez would up the ante on Essequibo. The diplomat recalled to Reuters recently that Chavez said shortly after taking power that Venezuela's border disputes - there is another, minor one with Colombia - would probably not find a lasting solution during his term of office. Usually seldom mentioned in Venezuela, the Essequibo dispute was widely covered by the press over the weekend. Major newspapers dedicated long articles, complete with historical data and maps, referring to the 1899 decision as "a major theft" that left "a gaping wound." The dispute, with roots in the colonial history of the only part of South America settled by the Dutch, British and French, is by many accounts a bizarre one. The Venezuelan claim is largely based on a posthumous letter opened 50 years ago. The document was a memorandum written in 1944 by a United States lawyer, Severo Mallet-Prevost, who had represented Venezuela before the Paris tribunal. Mallet-Prevost had asked the letter to be opened only after his death. The letter asserted the 1899 settlement was null and void because it was the result of a behind-the-scenes deal. But all the other participants in the tribunal had died and no balancing view was available. Venezuela formally raised the invalidity of the 1899 accord at the United Nations in 1962, four years before Guyana won independence from Britain.
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