The United Kingdom government supports Guyana's positions in the border controversy with Venezuela and its territorial dispute with Suriname.

Speaking with reporters during the mid-morning break of the Third Caribbean/United Kingdom Forum, which he was co-chairing, British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said however, that it was his government's judgment that the issues were best dealt with at the diplomatic level. Straw left Guyana later in the afternoon for Chile.

He said that the issue of British assistance on the border issues had been raised in the two meetings he has had with President Bharrat Jagdeo and it will continue to be discussed. Sources say that Guyana wants the UK to take a more proactive role in helping to resolve the border issues considering their colonial origins. Help is also being sought in gathering archival material and promoting Guyana's case internationally.

In its preparation for the negotiations with Guyana on the border issue, Suriname says the Netherlands has offered to make available its archives to it.

A British High Commission official here told Stabroek News that the UK's public records were open to anyone and that Guyana could make use of them as required.

Venezuela reopened the issue of its border with Guyana on the basis of a letter by Severo Mallet-Prevost that called into question the integrity of the process that led to the 1899 Arbitral Award which was declared a full and final settlement of the issue. Mallet-Prevost was a junior counsel to the Tribunal.

In his letter, Mallet-Prevost claimed that there was a deal made between the British and Russian jurists on the panel that was inimical to the interests of Venezuela.