UN Investigative team to visit Guyana tomorrow; Ban hold talks with Greenidge

UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon made a brief stop at Guyana's Cheddi Jagan Airport on Sunday afternoon and held discussions with Guyana's Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge.

UN Investigative team to visit Guyana tomorrow; Ban hold talks with Greenidge

An investigative team from the UN Secretary General’s office will arrive in Guyana tomorrow to begin talks with the Guyana government on the border controversy involving neighbouring Venezuela.

UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon made a brief stop at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan Airport on Sunday afternoon and held discussions with Guyana’s Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge.

The UN Chief did not offer any comment on the nature of his discussions or of the work to be done by his investigative team which arrives on Monday.

The team is also expected to visit Venezuela and hold discussions with officials there.

It was agreed that the team would visit Guyana and Venezuela during President David Granger’s meeting with the UN Chief and the Venezuelan President during the UN General Assembly in New York.

Guyana maintains that the border issue was settled way back in 1899 and Venezuela’s claims continue to be aimed at blocking development in the Essequibo region and of Guyana’s many maritime resources.

Venezuela continues to claim the Essequibo region and earlier this year, the neighbouring country issued a new decree claiming part of Guyana’s maritime space. The decree was eventually recalled as Maduro came under pressure from the international community.

However, the situation became worrying in early September when the Venezuelan military started a troop build up close to the Guyana border. The Guyana government filed an official complaint with the UN and also rallies its international partners. Maduro would later claim that the build up was an effort to rid the bordering regions of drug traffickers.

The Government of Guyana intends to pursue a judicial avenue to the border issue and President Granger recently announced that an international team of lawyers was already being put together.

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