Border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela -Impact on the region.

The long-standing territorial dispute of Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region escalated into a crisis in 2023. The region is controlled by Guyana but is claimed by Venezuela. The dispute dates back many years and the current border was established by the pairs arbitra in 1899. The 160000-square-mile region is generally recognized as part of Guyana, but in recent years Venezuela has revived its claim to the territory and offshore areas after oil and gas discoveries.

Tenson rose sharply after Venezuela’s referendum on 3 December 2023, which backed a move to make the Esequibo region a new Venezuelan state and rejected the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing the case on the border dispute.

Essequibo Region

Essequibo region is also known as Esequibo or Guayana Esequiba in Spanish, the region is on the west of the Essequibo River. The territory, excluding the Venezuela-controlled Ankoko island, is controlled by Guyana as part of six of its regions based on the 1899 pairs arbitral Award but is also claimed by Venezuela as the Guayana Esequiba state.

Boundary dispute of Essequibo Region

The boundary dispute was inherited from the colonial powers, Spain in Venezuela, and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in Guyana, and has persisted following the independence of Venezuela and Guyana. In 1835, the British government commissioned German-born explorer and naturalist Robert Hermann Schomburgk to survey British Guiana’s boundaries. This survey resulted in what came to be known as the Schomburg line, which went beyond the areas of British occupation and gave British Guiana control of the mouth of the Orinoco River.

the status of the territory is subject to the Geneva Agreement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and British Guiana on 17 February 1966. this treaty stipulates that the parties will agree to find a practical, peaceful, and satisfactory solution to the dispute.

on 18 December 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)accepted the case submitted by Guyana to settle the dispute.in December 2023, Venezuelan held a referendum asking the Venezuelan electorate whether the region should become a state of Venezuela and its citizens, where it declared that the result showed overwhelming support for such action votes were held in the disputed region

Demographics

in 2023 the population of Essequibo was estimated to be around 125 thousand inhabitants, or 15.8% of the total population of Guyana. Before the arrival of European colonials, the Guianas were populated by scattered bands of native people. The Warao people are considered to be the first inhabitants of Guyana, followed by the Arawak and Carib people

Venezuela Guyana Boundary Dispute, 1895-1899

The dispute officially began in 1814, when the Venezuelan Government protested alleged British encroachments on Venezuelan territory. in 1814 great Britain acquired British Guiana (Guyana)by treaty with the Netherlands. Because the treaty did not define a western boundary, the British commissioned Robert Schomburgk, a surveyor and naturalist, to delineate that boundary His 1835 survey resulted in what came to be known as the Schomburgk line, a boundary that effectively claimed an additional 30000 square miles for Guiana.

in 1895, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, newly appointed US Secretary of State Richard Olney sent a strong word note to British Prime Minister and foreign secretary lord Salisbury, demanding that the British submit the boundary dispute to arbitration. Salisbury responded that the Monroe Doctrine had no validity as international law. the United States found that response unacceptable and in December 1895, President Grover Cleveland asked Congress for authorization to appoint a boundary commission, proposing that the commission finding be enforced by every means,.congress passed the measure unanimously and talked of war with Great Britain beginning to circulate in the us press.

great Britain under pressure in South Africa with the Boers and managing an empire that spanned the globe could ill afford another conflict. lord Salisbury government submitted the dispute to the American Boundary Commission and said nothing else of the Monroe Doctrine.

however, when the commission finally ended a decision on October 3, 1899, it directed that the border follow the Schomburgk line. Although of rejection of Great Britain’s increasingly extravagant clams, the ruling preserved the 1835 demarcation. disappointing the Venezuelans. The anglo -Venezuelan boundary dispute incident asserted for the first time a more outward-looking American foreign policy.

internationally the incident marked the United States as a world power and gave notice that under the Monroe Doctrine, it would exercise its claimed prerogatives in the Western Hemisphere.