1899 Arbitral Award establishing Guyana/Venezuela land boundary must be respected -US Asst. Secretary of State

As Guyana quietly observed the 123rd anniversary of the signing of the arbitral award between Guyana and Venezuela which set the land boundaries, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere said the arbitral award of 1899 did determine the land boundary.

1899 Arbitral Award establishing Guyana/Venezuela land boundary must be respected -US Asst. Secretary of State

The United State Government has indicated that it is in support of a peaceful resolution to the ongoing border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.

As Guyana quietly observed the 123rd anniversary of the signing of the arbitral award between Guyana and Venezuela which set the land boundaries, the US  Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere said the arbitral award of 1899 did determine the land boundary.

“The 1899 arbitral award determined the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela and should be respected unless or until otherwise determined by a competent legal body,” U.S Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere, Ambassador Brian Nichols tweeted.

On Tuesday, Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is looking forward to have the matter settled once and for all by the International Court of Justice noting that the decisions will be binding on both parties.

“Guyana brought the matter to the Court in an application submitted on 29 March 2018. The Court confirmed jurisdiction over Guyana’s claims, rejecting Venezuela’s objections in a judgement issued on 18 December 2020. This assures that it will be the court, with the final and binding effect of the parties Guyana and Venezuela whether the 1899 arbitral award establishing the international boundary between the two states was lawfully issued remains legally valid and permanently binding as a matter of international law,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday.

Venezuela’s position is that it prefers to resolve the issue through dialogue although dialogue has not worked for more than two decades.

Although Caracas says it is also committed to a peaceful resolution of the matter, in recent years there has been several moves on Venezuela’s part which have been seen as intimidation.

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