Existing Guyana/ Venezuela border should be respected unless proven otherwise – US Official

The existing land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, which was settled through the 1899 arbitral award, should be respected unless or until otherwise determined by a competent legal body, a top United States (US) official tweeted.

Brian Nichols, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted that the US supports a peaceful resolution to the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy.

He, however, underscored that the existing boundary should be respected until a decision is made at the end of the ongoing legal process.

Venezuela claims that Guyana’s Essequibo region and about 70 per cent of Guyana’s land mass and significant offshore oil reserves belong to it, in contravention of the 1899 arbitral award. After previous attempts at dialogue failed, the controversy has been referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ already ruled that it has the jurisdiction to hear the border controversy case and received Guyana’s memorial on the merits of its case against Venezuela.

Guyana is seeking a decision that the Arbitral Award of 1899 determining the boundary is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and that the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement demarcating it is the lawful boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.