ONU envía misión para analizar conflicto entre Guyana y Venezuela
El secretario general de Naciones Unidas (ONU) Ban Ki Moon envió este sábado a Guyana un equipo cuya misión es encontrar un nuevo mecanismo para resolver la controversia limítrofe con Venezuela, informó el gobierno guyanés.
La misión se produce luego de que Guyana indicara formalmente a la ONU que tras «25 años del proceso de buenos oficios no se ha encontrado ninguna solución a la controversia» con Venezuela, por lo que «era tiempo de invocar otro tipo de acuerdo», indicó el ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Guyana en un comunicado.
El actual gobierno, elegido en mayo de 2015, y el opositor People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) han dicho que es hora que la controversia sobre la frontera terrestre fijada en 1899 por un Tribunal Arbitral sea dirimida en la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI).
La encargada de las Américas del Departamento de Asuntos Políticos de la ONU, Martha Doggett, encabeza la misión. El equipo -que se reunirá con diversas autoridades de Guyana- se quedará en el país hasta el 2 de septiembre, indicó AFP.
La misión tiene lugar poco antes de una probable reunión entre los presidentes de Guyana, David Granger, y de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, al margen de la asamblea general de la ONU que se desarrollará a mediados de septiembre en Nueva York.
Venezuela quiere mantener la mediación de la ONU -conocida como el proceso de buenos oficios- para resolver su reclamo sobre la boscosa región del Esequibo, que representa unos dos tercios de la superficie de Guyana.
La controversia limítrofe se avivó en junio pasado luego que la gigante petrolera estadounidense Exxon-Mobil anunciara el hallazgo de una cantidad significativa de petróleo en aguas de esa región.
UN Mission dispatched to Guyana visits Essequibo
The United Nation (UN) Mission dispatched by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to Guyana, to hold discussions on matters surrounding the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, on Sunday visited the Essequibo Coast and River, as part of its preparations for consultations today.
Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge in an invited comment told Guyana Times on Sunday that the team, headed by the Chief of the Americas Division – Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations, Martha Doggett, visited the locations on Sunday, along with the Maburama and Waini regions. According to the Minister, the officials saw that the area was not an “empty expanse of river and land”, but that they have been occupied and utilised since the 19th century.
According to Greenidge, while Guyana’s job is not to argue with the team about what really belongs to Guyana, Government has facilitated the officials and will be cooperating in every possible way. It is their job; he said, to deal with the issue.
The team has also indicated that it will be visiting the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as part of the consultative process.
Venezuela recently began moving throughout the Caribbean seeking out solidarity from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) member States on its claims over the Essequibo. This has not gone down quite too well, as every member country, including its Chair Freundel Stuart of Barbados reiterated Caricom’s deepening and unwavering support to Guyana and the position it holds.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree ratifying maritime sovereignty over waters within a 200-mile range, including the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast, as well as part of Suriname’s maritime territory.
This decree sparked a nationwide debate regarding the matter, with various regional bodies and nations calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The UN team will meet today with former Government officials and current Government Ministers including Minister Carl Greenidge; former Foreign Affairs Ministers, Sir Shridath Ramphal; Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; and Rashleigh Jackson; former Guyana Facilitator in the Good Offices Process Ralph Ramkarran; Ambassadors Rudolph Collins, Elisabeth Harper, and Major General Retired Joseph Singh.
The UN Mission, will be departing Guyana on September 2
