Boundary disputes[edit]
Map of Guyana, showing the
Essequibo River and (shaded dark) the river's drainage basin. Venezuela claims territory up to the western bank of the river. The historical claim by the UK included the river basin well into current-day Venezuela.
See also:
Schomburgk Line and
Borders of Suriname
Guyana is in
border disputes with both Suriname, which claims the area east of the left bank of the
Corentyne River and the New River in southwestern Suriname, and Venezuela which claims the land west of the Essequibo River, once the
Dutch colony of Essequibo as part of Venezuela's
Guayana Essequiba.
[82][83][84][85] The maritime
[86][87] component of the territorial dispute with Suriname was arbitrated by the
United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, and a ruling was announced on 21 September 2007. The ruling concerning the
Caribbean Sea north of both nations found both parties violated treaty obligations and declined to order any compensation to either party.
[88]
When the British surveyed British Guiana in 1840, they included the entire
Cuyuni River basin within the colony. Venezuela did not agree with this as it claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River. In 1898, at Venezuela's request, an international
arbitration tribunal was convened, and in 1899 the tribunal issued an award giving about 94% of the disputed territory to British Guiana. The arbitration was concluded, settled and accepted into International law by both Venezuela and the UK. Venezuela brought up again the settled claim, during the 1960s cold war period, and during Guyana's Independence period. This issue is now governed by the
Treaty of Geneva of 1966, which was signed by the Governments of Guyana, the United Kingdom and Venezuela, and Venezuela continues to claim
Guayana Esequiba.
[89] Venezuela calls this region "Zona en Reclamación" (Reclamation Zone) and Venezuelan maps of the national territory routinely include it, drawing it in with dashed lines.
[90]
Disputed areas of Guyana with Venezuela (red) and Suriname (yellow)
Specific small disputed areas involving Guyana are
Ankoko Island with Venezuela; Corentyne River
[91] with Suriname; and
Tigri Area or
New River Triangle[92] with Suriname. In 1967 a Surinamese survey team was found in the New River Triangle and was forcibly removed. In August 1969 a patrol of the
Guyana Defence Force found a survey camp and a partially completed airstrip inside the triangle, and documented evidence of the Surinamese intention to occupy the entire disputed area. After an exchange of gunfire, the
Surinamese were driven from the triangle.
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