Georgetown: Newly-appointed British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn has said that the Good Offices Process must be abandoned and a new approach taken for the resolution of the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy.
The Good Offices approach was established by the United Nations as a mechanism to assist in resolving Venezuela’s longstanding claim to Essequibo.
In promising Guyana the support of his country, the diplomat said that Guyana should also explore the other options which were available within the UN system so that the matter can be settled once and for all, noting that if it was not settled at the earliest, Guyana stood to face more impacts.
“The Good Offices process is still to be abandoned; it hasn’t been abandoned as yet. The Foreign Minister here has said that after many years it has not done anything, and I think that’s a fair comment. There are other options in the UN system which we can consider as a way to finishing this once and forever, for all.
We wouldn’t be seeking to impose ourselves in what we think is the best way to go about this, but certainly if asked, the problem is what Guyana and Venezuela might ask for are two different things, but I think it is time for a new approach. The fact that the maritime border has not been delineated means that it would have possible impact on Guyana … but I think that there are standard, traditional ways of delineating maritime borders and I think … you can look at those with relation to the Guyana/ Venezuela issue,” the British High Commissioner said.
Speaking on the issue which had resurfaced when US-based multinational company ExxonMobil was given permission by the Guyana Government to embark on drilling activities here, Quinn said that Venezuela’s opposition was unwarranted as the United Kingdom was of the belief that Guyana was within its rights in granting that permission.
“In particularly to the ExxonMobil issue, there is no question that that is in Guyanese waters. No question at all… I think fundamentally, that –if you are asking me, what do we think? – We think where that ship is is within Guyanese waters. The land border is unquestioned,” Quinn expressed.
On March 3, the Guyana Government announced its intention to opt out of Good Offices process – a mechanism anticipated to assist in resolving the renewed claim that Venezuela had made on a portion of the Essequibo region of Guyana. In explaining the country’s decision and its desire to request a judicial settlement, Foreign Affairs Minister Rodrigues-Birkett pointed out that the Good Offices process has yielded little results over the last past 25 years. She added that Guyana was examining other available options, while suggesting that Venezuela remained comfortable with the current process “because it suits their purpose – no movement”.
These “other options” will eventually have to be decided by the UN Secretary General. According to Article 33 of the UN Charter, they include, in addition to “Good Offices”, the resort to mediation, facilitation, dialogue processes, arbitration and judicial settlement. However, all, except a judicial settlement process, have already been tried.
This most recent development in the territorial controversy arose just after the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, at the beginning of March, objected to the exploratory drilling for oil by the American company, in a concession granted by Guyana. Venezuela claimed that the area was located in its “territory” despite the fact that the drilling area was deep within Guyana’s maritime economic zone. In response, Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that it asked the Venezuelan Government to desist from taking any actions that could only result in hindering the development of Guyana and relations between the two countries.
In a rebuttal, Venezuela, in a communiqué in mid-March, labelled as “unjust and false”, the claims that it was deliberately obstructing Guyana’s development, and pointed to the instances of collaboration and support between the two states as evidence to the contrary. Some observers feel that the Venezuelan objection arose because of the involvement of ExxonMobil in the drilling at a time when the United States had imposed a series of political sanctions on Venezuela. Significantly, Venezuela was ordered by an international arbitration panel in October 2014 to pay ExxonMobil US$1.6 billion for the company’s oil assets nationalised in 2007.
The Guyana Government’s decision has received support across the national political spectrum, and further afield from Caricom and Commonwealth Governments.
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