Guyana, Venezuela to meet again to discuss border row

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge has reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to the Good Officer’s process to resolve the border row with Venezuela, as the two countries plan to meet again to continue discussions under the framework.

The agreement was made between the Foreign Ministers of both countries during a meeting organised by the United Nations in New York this weekend, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Dag Nylander, facilitated discussions, organized within the framework of the Good Offices mandate entrusted to the Secretary-General under the Geneva Agreement of 1966.

The release said the Foreign Ministers and their delegations exchanged views on issues related to the controversy with the aim of exploring options for a full agreement for its solution.

The statement further noted that the two ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the Good Officer’s process and reiterated that their Governments will remain actively engaged with the Personal Representative.

The parties agreed to meet again to continue discussions within this framework, and to explore options for the resolution of the border controversy, the statement said.

In 2015, the Government of Guyana requested the United Nations Secretary-General to take steps toward a resolution of the controversy using an option from the menu as stated in the Geneva Agreement of 17 February 1966.

Further, in 2016, as a consequence of a stalemate on the matter, outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed with his successor, Mr António Guterres, to continue to use the Good Offices Process until the end of 2017 as a means of arriving at a settlement.

According to the mandate of the Personal Representative, “If, by the end of 2017, the Secretary-General concludes that no significant progress has been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, he will choose the International Court of Justice as the next means of settlement, unless the Governments of Guyana and Venezuela jointly request that he refrain from doing so.”