President Irfaan Ali has written a second letter to St. Vincent Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, reiterating his position that there will be no dialogue, compromise or negotiation on the border controversy and the case before the International Court at Thursday’s planned meeting with Venezuelan President, Nicholas Maduro.

In the 4-page letter that was dispatched today, President Ali responded to some of the claims contained in Maduro’s acceptance letter to the meeting.

President Ali said he has a mandate from the National Assembly of Guyana which is unanimous in its resolve, that the land boundary is not a matter for bilateral discussions and the settlement of the matter is properly in the International Court of Justice where it must remain until the Court gives its final ruling on the merits of the case which, Guyana has always said will be fully respected by Guyana.

The President reminded that talks between Guyana and Venezuela on the controversy went on for years as part of the UN Good Offices process, and once those talks ran their course, it was the UN Secretary General who decided on the final means for the settlement of the controversy, pointing to the International Court, where Guyana filed its case in 2018.   

President Ali said the process as set out in the 1966 Geneva Agreement was followed.

“To recap that process: during the entire period of the existence of the Geneva Agreement, there have been several tools utilized. These include four (4) years (1966 -1970) of meetings through a Mixed Commission involving bilateral talks between Guyana and Venezuela, a twelve (12) year moratorium followed by twenty-eight (28) years (1989 – 2017) of the Good Offices Process under the aegis of the United Nations Secretary General. That Process facilitated dialogue between the two sides on a resolution of the controversy in the presence of the Secretary General’s personal representative”, the President wrote.

He also reminded that while Venezuela has repeatedly objected to the Arbitral Award, it has never offered any credible support or evidence for its contention of nullity and invalidity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which settled the boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela.

“Nor has it offered evidence to contradict the validity of the 1905 Agreement, signed by both parties, fixing the boundary along the line established in the 1899 Arbitral Award. To the contrary, between 1899 and 1962 Venezuela accepted and recognised that boundary as the international boundary between the two States, as reflected in all official Venezuela maps published during this 60+ year period. Indeed, it applauded the award, claiming as a great victory the attribution of the mouth of the Orinoco River – which was understood by both parties as the most important territory in dispute – to Venezuela”, President Ali noted.

The President also described as inaccurate, Maduro’s statement about Guyana handing out oil blocks in a maritime area yet to be delimited.

According to the President, contrary to Maduro’s misleading assertion, “all of the oil blocks are located well within Guyanese waters under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees coastal States the exclusive rights to the resources in the sea and seabed within 200 nautical miles of their coasts.”

He also dismissed Maduro’s allegation of meddling by the US military, reminding that the Government of Guyana maintains its sovereign right to engage in any form of cooperation with its bilateral partners and does not support intervention in the internal affairs of any other State.

“Any allegation that a military operation aimed at Venezuela exists in any part of Guyanese territory is false, misleading and provocative”.

President Ali said he is prepared to speak to President Maduro on any other aspect that may contribute to improving and strengthening amicable relations between our two countries, but there will be no negotiation on the border controversy and the case before the International Court.

The Venezuelan President has stated that he believes the meeting will be the beginning of discussions on the border controversy.

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