Guyana reiterates validity of award
THE Ministry of Home Affairs has reiterated the validity of the award that established the existing borders between Guyana and Venezuela. Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration in Paris on October 3, 1899. "Guyana continues to uphold this position in the face of controversy that has arisen as a result of Venezuela's contention that the award is null and void thus laying claim to the territory of Essequibo," the statement said. It added that the Government of Guyana maintains that the Essequibo region is an integral part of the territory of Guyana and it is, therefore, the Government's intention to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana. "The Government remains committed to the continuation of the UN Good Officer process under the auspices of the UN Secretary General as provided for in Article IV (2) of the 1966 Geneva Agreement with a view to a peaceful settlement of this controversy," the Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry emphasised that the Government of Guyana will continue to work with the Government of Venezuela towards the maintenance and strengthening of existing bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation. A Reuters news report Sunday said that Venezuela "revived a long-standing border controversy with Guyana over a mineral-rich area the size of Florida, probably the last major territorial dispute in the Americas." It quoted the Venezuelan Foreign Minister as saying that the Venezuela Government considered the painful arbitration tribunal decision signed exactly 100 years ago, on October 3, 1899, in Paris, to be "null and an irritant". Meanwhile, the local political party, the National Democratic Movement (NDM), in a press release, said it rejects with great indignation the imperialist designs that successive Venezuelan Governments have pursued against its much smaller neighbour, Guyana. "What must we think of a neighbour who repudiates his own signature?" the party asked. It pointed out that the 1899 Award in Paris by an International Arbitral Tribunal was accepted in Venezuela as "a full, perfect and final settlement" of the boundary dispute. The NDM indicated that the award was respected by Venezuela until July, 1968 when that country began moves to annex the largest and richest part of Guyana's territory with the invasion of Ankoko. Since then, the Venezuelans have exerted every form of pressure to create a controversy with the hope of resuscitating a border dispute, it said. The NDM said it is duly bound to commit its resources, and expertise to the cause of the nation, and called on Guyanese of all races and opinions wherever they are to rally round Guyana and to resist this brazen attempt at land annexation.
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