1970 Guyana-Suriname communique not based on any treaty
Stabroek News
March 7, 2004
A communiqué signed in 1970 by Suriname and Guyana which included a clause agreeing "in principle" that there should be "an early demilitarisation" of the border area in the upper Corentyne, is not related to any treaty as the Suriname media have been erroneously reporting.
The Surinamese media have reported statements by their government officials invoking one of the points in this communiqué and calling on Guyana to remove its military presence from the New River Triangle.
The communique signed by then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham and Premier, Dr Jules Sedney of Suriname, following their meeting in April 1970 at Crow's Nest, Chaguaramas, was carefully drafted, a Guyana foreign ministry official notes.
The communiqué said that the two heads of government "discussed existing problems regarding the border between Guyana and Suriname as well a number of matters of common interest to the two countries."
Issued on April 10, 1970, following a two-day meeting, it went on to say: "With a view to ensuring peaceful relations between the two countries the Prime Ministers agreed in principle that there should be an early demilitarisation of the border area of Guyana and Suriname in the region of the Upper Corentyne and to the promotion of practical co-operation between Guyana and Suriname in economic and cultural fields.
"They entertain the expectation that such co-operation would extend to activity over all areas of common interest to the two countries including activity in the above mentioned region."
The official said that the communiqué released after the talks had to be read in the context of the times when it was drafted, recalling that the meeting was to discuss ways of easing the tension between the countries following Guyana's repulsion of Suriname's military incursion into the area in 1969.
The communiqué said official working parties of both governments would begin no later than June 15, 1970 to promote plans for the effective implementation of the proposals.
Following later discussions between Burnham and Sedney in Guyana, a joint declaration was issued on June 27, 1970, which stated among other things: "The Prime Minister of Guyana indicated to the Prime Minister of Suriname that pursuant to their meeting in Trinidad and Tobago and even prior to the meeting of the Working Party on demilitarisation, his government had taken steps to withdraw military personnel from a number of points in the region of the Upper Corentyne."
Foreign Ministry officials say that Guyana has always asserted its sovereignty over the area and that while this country had indicated that it had met its obligations as set out in the communiqué, Suriname to this day had not indicated whether it had done the same.
Recent reports in the Suriname media following Guyana's move to take the maritime dispute to arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea have suggested that Suriname may try to insist on the removal of the Guyana Defence Force presence in the New River Triangle.
Foreign Affairs Minister Rudy Insanally on Friday reiterated that Guyana's occupation of the New River Triangle is not a matter of negotiation.
A Government Information Agency release quotes Insanally as saying, "We have a perfect right to exercise our sovereignty to be there... Our rights are confirmed in our eyes."
Suriname has sought to link the maritime border dispute to its claim to the New River Triangle and its expulsion from that area has rankled over the years.