WHEREAS Venezuela continues to advance her claim to the Essequibo Region of Guyana, a claim which amounts to no less than five-eighths of Guyana’s territory;
AND WHEREAS this claim completely disregards the fact that the existing boundary was defined by the unanimous judgment of an international arbitral tribunal given in Paris in 1899, and jointly demarcated on the ground by officials of the United Kingdom and Venezuela and accepted thereafter by the international community as both the de facto and de jure boundary between Guyana and Venezuela;
NOTING that following continued agitation by Venezuela, the Geneva Agreement signed on February 17, 1966 between the United Kingdom, British Guiana and Venezuela established a Mixed Commission of Guyanese and Venezuelan representatives charged with the task of seeking a satisfactory solution for the peaceful settlement of the controversy between Venezuela and the United Kingdom which had arisen as the result of the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela is null and void;
NOTING the failure of the Mixed Commission and the further agreement by Guyana and Venezuela within the context of Article IV(2) of the 1966 Geneva Agreement to refer the decision as to the means of settlement to the Secretary-General of the United Nations;
NOTING that the relations between the two countries have been conducted over recent years in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect and through the development of programmes of functional co-operation;
FURTHER NOTING the commitment of the two countries to the good offices process of the UN Secretary-General;
RECOGNISING the consistent and firm support of the Member States of the Caribbean Community for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Guyana and their stated desire for a peaceful settlement to the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians urge the Governments of the Community to reiterate their unwavering support for and solidarity with the Government of Guyana in the face of the controversy;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this Resolution be communicated to the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
Approved by the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians, Grenada, this 15th day of October, 1999.
