UK’s support for Guyana’s territorial integrity unwavering – Lammy

David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, made it clear that the United Kingdom firmly supports Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“As you know, the UK government was very supportive of Guyana and very critical of the aggression that we were seeing from the Maduro regime.

“… Britain will continue to support our very close friend in the region and Guyana becomes- and is- such an important country in the Caribbean basin. And the UK truly understands that,” Lammy told the News Room on Friday.

The boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was determined by an arbitration tribunal 124 years ago, but Venezuela rejected the award in 1962, saying it was flawed.

A mechanism was set up to solve the controversy and after decades of talks failed, the United Nations Secretary-General referred the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the UN’s principal judicial organ.

The case is ongoing with both sides participating in the proceedings.

Venezuela has, from time to time, upped its aggressions towards Guyana. Tensions were heightened at the end of 2023 when the country held a referendum over Guyana’s Essequibo region. The UK and other international partners supported Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty then.

Lammy said the UK will continue to support Guyana as it believes the controversy was settled a century ago. He also noted that UK businesses were not daunted by Venezuela’s claims and they continue to seek investments in Guyana.

Lammy visited Guyana this weekend as part of his first trip to the Caribbean as the Foreign Secretary of the new Labour government.