Guyana gets assurance on Venezuelan border moves - Caracas says manoeuvres drug-related Stabroek News October 7, 1999 Foreign Minister Clement Rohee was yesterday assured by his Venezuelan counterpart, Jose Vicente Rangel that troop movements near the Guyana border posed no threat to this country's territorial integrity and national sovereignty. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs press statement issued at 6.36 pm yesterday said that following conversations between Rohee and Rangel, the Government of Guyana "has been assured that reports earlier received indicating unusual movements of Venezuelan troops and other related activities, pose no threat to Guyana's territorial integrity and national sovereignty". The release said that Guyana had been assured that these activities "are exclusively related to an exercise being conducted to counter the trafficking of drugs in the area". The release added that the manoeuvres were being conducted solely by the Venezuelan National Guard which had been mobilised for that purpose. According to the release, Rangel further assured the Guyana Government through Rohee that there was no mobilisation of the Venezuelan army on the border and that the movements of the National Guard had nothing to do with the long-standing border controversy between the two countries or with the observance this week of the 100th anniversary of the Arbitral Award which affirmed the present border between the two countries. In the Foreign Ministry release, Rohee referred to a statement by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that "Venezuela would not revert to the use of force to resolve the controversy." The reported troop movements on the Venezuelan side of the border come in the wake of Sunday's 100th anniversary of the 1899 Paris arbitral award and a reiteration on that day by Caracas of its claim to the Essequibo region of Guyana. It also follows hard on the heels of strenuous objections by Caracas to the granting by the Guyana government of concessions to offshore oil explorers including a statement that there would be an act of reaffirmation of sovereignty this month. On Sunday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it considered the October 3, 1899 Paris award "null and an irritant". Caracas contended that the agreement "illegally stripped our country of Essequibo". Reuters reported the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry as saying that Venezuela would continue to seek with Guyana "satisfactory solutions" to the controversy under the auspices of the UN. Quoting Caracas-based diplomats, who said the Essequibo controversy was bound to assume greater significance since the accession of the heavily nationalist Chavez to the presidency eight months ago, it reported Chavez as saying on Saturday that "we have started to take some actions in the past few months in order to bring the issue to the negotiating table". The Guyana Foreign Ministry release yesterday noted that discussions held in New York on September 20, 1999 between Rohee and Rangel were conducted in an atmosphere of cordiality in the presence of UN Good Officer Sir Alister McIntyre who has been entrusted with the mandate of finding a mutually acceptable solution to the controversy between the two countries. Sir Alister has indicated that he would be stepping down as Good Officer. Also present at the meeting was Alvaro de Soto, UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs. The release said that the opportunity was taken to review the status of bilateral relations between Guyana and Venezuela in the context of the UN Good Officer process. Rohee's release added that in the context of those discussions, Rangel made a commitment to speed up his government's input into the work of the Guyana/Venezuela High Level Bilateral Commission which was set up earlier this year to enhance functional cooperation between the two countries. "The Foreign Minister of Venezuela reassured the Foreign Minister of Guyana that there has been no change on the part of Venezuela following the positive outcome of their discussions in New York and he further reiterated the need for early meetings of the sub committees of the High Level Bilateral Commission," the release stated. On the oil exploration tiff, the Sunday Stabroek of October 3, reported that Caracas had lodged an official protest with the Guyana Government and Sir Alister over oil search licences granted to US companies Century Offshore Management Corporation, Maxus Energy Corporation and Production Guyana Ltd, a subsidiary of Exxon Corporation. It was claimed by Venezuela that the operations of two of the companies extended into Caracas' territorial waters. As a result, Rangel was quoted by the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional during a visit to Berlin as saying that his government would take action to affirm its sovereignty over the area this month. El Nacional said that Rangel had written to Rohee in July expressing concern over the granting of the concessions to the oil explorers. It added that Rohee had responded seeking clarification of Caracas' reservations. In its first public statement on the matter, Rohee's ministry's statement yesterday said that Rangel had assured Rohee at the New York meeting that a response would be dispatched in reply to Rohee's letter seeking clarification "on certain matters which the Venezuelan side had raised". The statement added that the Guyana Government will continue to monitor developments on its frontiers and remains ready to work with the administrations of Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname to deepen the friendly relations with its neighbours. Over the years there have been incidents on Guyana's border with Venezuela notably the burning of a flag at Eteringbang and an intrusion into Guyana's airspace by Venezuelan F-16s late last year that was described as a New Year's salute by Caracas. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples