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The long-running border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana has escalated following a decision by Venezuela to submit to the International Court of Justice ICJ regarding ownership of the Essequibo, an oil-rich region that makes up two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,00 citizens.
While Caricom and other bodies have intervened to quell the situation Political and Social Analyst Peter Wickham believes this will continue for a while longer.
He views the dispute as a delicate situation with no resolution on the horizon.
“Honestly, I think that is something that is going to be a flower, a very delicate growth I think we are going to be in a situation where there is going to be a stalemate where it is concerned. Frankly, I do not see a resolution. This border dispute is not new for a long time there have been negotiations, my understanding is that it predated Guyana’s Independence,” Wickham said.
He added that border dispute such as this tends to be a matter that is not resolved easily. He said it requires consensus with both territories formalizing an agreement.
According to Wickham even if the International Courts agree with Guyana, this does mean there will be a common ground. He is, however, optimistic that the matter will not reach a violent end.
“I would love for a decision of an international court to say give the land to Guyana, I think we can all accept that the land belongs to Guyana as property, but that’s me saying this and I do not know if that would be enough. At a level I think Venezuela also understands that you know, the hope of actually being able to recapture and to fully claim that is a bit of a pipe dream,” Wickham said.
He stated further Venezuela does have the power to stop Guyana from going any further in terms of exploration. He also said there has to be a calculation on the part of the Guyana government to get the extent of the exploration in that area.
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