Meeting on Guyana/Venezuela controversy for next week

Foreign Ministers of Guyana and Venezuela are expected to meet again next week to further discuss the Good Officer Process, which ends on December 31, 2017.

According to Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, both countries have committed to having regular discussions on the ongoing controversy until the end of 2017, after which the Secretary-General of the United Nations “receives a report from the personal rep at that time.”

Greenidge, speaking to reporters on Monday morning on the sidelines of an event, added that when the report would have been received, only then would he be at liberty to discuss the details of the series of meetings hosted.

The Foreign Ministers of Guyana and Venezuela last met in New York on October 28 and 29 to discuss the issue. The meeting was facilitated by the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Dag Nylander.

It was put in place by Former Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon in 2016 that the two sides explore the Good Officer Process until the end of 2017 as a means of arriving at a settlement. However, it was noted that if by the end of the year there is no significant progress towards arriving at a solution, the next step is to move to the International Court of Justice.

The ongoing controversy between the two South American neighbours escalated in 2015 when ExxonMobil struck oil off the coast of Guyana.