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Guyana Relations with Venezuela
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Figure 7. Guyana: Border Disputes
Relations between Guyana and Venezuela have been driven by a
persistent border dispute
(see
fig. 7). Venezuela's claim to a
mineral-rich five-eighths of Guyana's total land mass dates back to
the early nineteenth century
(see Origins of the Border Dispute with Venezuela
, ch. 1). The dispute
was considered settled by
arbitration in 1899. Decades later a memo written by a lawyer
involved in the arbitration and published posthumously indicated
that the tribunal president had coerced several members into
assenting to the final decision. In 1962 Venezuela declared that it
would no longer abide by the 1899 arbitration on the grounds of
this new information.
On February 17, 1966, representatives of Britain, Guyana, and
Venezuela signed an agreement in Geneva that established a border
commission consisting of two Guyanese and two Venezuelans. The
commission failed to reach an agreement, but both countries agreed
to resolve their dispute by peaceful means as stipulated in Article
33 of the United Nations Charter. In the meantime, relations
remained tense. In February 1967, Venezuela vetoed Guyana's bid to
become a member of the Organization of American States (OAS). The
Venezuelan government also attempted to sabotage Guyana's
development plans for the disputed region by letting it be known to
would-be foreign investors that it did not recognize Guyanese
jurisdiction.
With Venezuelan backing, several prominent ranching families
and Amerindian followers in the southern part of the disputed
region began an uprising. The rebels launched a surprise attack on
the police outpost at Lethem on January 2, 1969, and several
policemen were killed. The government flew police and military
forces to the region with orders to raze everything. Only livestock
and cattle were spared. The Venezuelan government admitted that
some of the Guyanese insurgents had received training in Venezuela
and that it would grant refuge to the rebels. Guyana protested this
action in the UN.
Venezuela found itself diplomatically isolated, unable even to
gain the support of its neighbors in Latin America. Pressure on
Venezuela to resolve the dispute led to the Protocol of Port-of-
Spain, whereby in 1970 Guyana and Venezuela agreed to a twelve-year
moratorium on the dispute. The protocol would be automatically
renewed unless either party gave notice of its intention to do
otherwise.
In 1981 the Venezuelan president, Luis Hererra Campíns,
announced that Venezuela would not renew the protocol. Relations
again grew tense. Guyana's government accused Venezuela of massing
troops near their common border to invade Guyana. The Venezuelan
government denied this accusation, stating that its troops merely
were involved in regular maneuvers. The subsequent Argentine
invasion of the Falkland Islands (called the Malvinas by Argentina)
and the 1983 United States invasion of Grenada were heavily
criticized by the Guyanese government, which feared that a
precedent had been set for Venezuela to resolve its territorial
grievance by force.
In the late 1980s with different administrations in both
countries, relations between Venezuela and Guyana improved.
Relations became so cordial, in fact, that Venezuela sponsored
Guyana's bid for OAS membership in 1990. Although the territorial
issue remained unresolved, there seemed little imminent threat of
a Venezuelan invasion.
Data as of January 1992
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