Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey
I heard there's some sort of dispute. What's going on?
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Border dispute over the Esequibo region. Each country claims it as its own.
A chronology of the Venezuela-Guyana border dispute over the Essequibo - Daily News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayana_Esequiba
The territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region, which represents two thirds of Guyana's territory, has escalated over the last weeks.
Diplomatic tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over the territorial dispute rose in March with the beginning of oil prospecting operations by US oil company ExxonMobil.
Guyana signed an agreement worth USD 200 million with the oil company; a move Venezuela has repeatedly rejected, as it argues that such prospecting operations were being made in Venezuelan waters, as reported by Efe.
Brief chronology of the history of the diplomatic relations between the two countries:
1811: Venezuela's declaration of independence from Spain.
1814: The Anglo–Dutch Treaty was signed. It grants to Great Britain the lands acquired by Dutch settlers, including the west side of the Essequibo River, but according to experts, that document does not defines Guyana's western border.
1831: British Guiana is established.
1899: British Guiana and Venezuela agreed to international arbitration, known as the Paris Arbitration Award, which favored Great Britain and established the sovereignty of Guyana over the Essequibo region. The award also gave Venezuela sovereignty over the mouths of the Orinoco River and a small section of the Guyanese territory.
1962: The government of Venezuela denounces in the United Nations that the Paris Arbitration Award is "null and void;" hence the stage of negotiations between the countries begins.
1966
February 17: Venezuela, Britain, and British Guiana reach the Geneva Agreement, which grants British Guiana sovereignty over the Essequibo region, comprising over 160,000 square kilometers and representing nearly two thirds of Guyana's territory.
May 26: Guyana gains its independence from Great Britain.
October: The "Ankoko crisis" emerges. Venezuela takes over the Ankoko Island, claimed by Guyana, with military and civilian personnel and sets a military base there. Since then, the island is also in dispute.
1969: A secessionist movement, known as the Rupununi Uprising, develops in the southern area of the Essequibo. It sought to split both the Venezuelan and Guyanese territories.
1990: The United Nations appoints Alister McIntyre special representative to mediate in the dispute between Guyana and Venezuela; the UN Good Officer Process begins.
1999: The Venezuelan Constituent Assembly passes an article declaring "null" the decision made in 1899 by the International Court of Arbitration granting the Essequibo region to Guyana.
Between 1999 and 2000, Guyana grants oil drilling concessions to several oil companies in waters disputed with Venezuela.
2000
August – Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs José Vicente Rangel reports that oil companies Century and Exxon were to terminate their oil contracts with Guyana for prospecting in the Essequibo region.
August 24 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez affirms that Guyana and Venezuela should "endeavor to peacefully settle the issue" of Essequibo.
2013
August 31 – The brand new President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, visits Guyana to review with his Guyanese counterpart, Donald Ramotar, diplomatic relations of both countries.
October 10 – Venezuelan Navy interdicts a ship of Panamanian flag that was hired by Guyana for oil prospecting. The Guyanese government noted that the action took place in Guyanese waters.
October 15 - Venezuela interdicts a fishing boat of Trinidad and Tobago without authorization to sail in territorial waters of the Venezuelan exclusive economic zone.
2014
April 9 - Jamaican Norman Girvan dies. He was the personal representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon entrusted with mediation in the border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. Girvan was the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States in 2000-2004.
2015
March 5 - Exxon Mobil starts oil prospecting in Essequibo waters, with the consent of the Guyanese government. The 10-year project worth USD 200 billion was agreed by Exxon Mobil and the Guyanese government.
April 8 – Venezuela's government urges Esso Exploration and Production Guyana, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, to give up its intention to perform "unauthorized" operations in the disputed maritime area.
May 11 – Presidential election is held in Guyana. David Granger is elected president, after defeating the ruling People's Progressive Party, which had governed the former British colony for more than 20 years.
May 20 - Exxon Mobil reports on the finding of a "significant" oil reservoir in the Stabroek block, about 190 kilometers (120 miles) of Guyana's coast.
May 24 – Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcy RodrÃguez upholds the "sovereign rights" of Venezuela over the Essequibo and makes an appeal to stop oil prospecting.
May 26 - Nicolás Maduro issues a decree on sea delimitation of the Essequibo waters.
May 30 - Guyana sends a ship of the Guyanese Defense Force to take part in naval and military exercises along with the US Southern Command in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
July 3 – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meets with Guyana's President David Granger to address the border dispute in the context of the summit of the Caribbean Community in Barbados. That same day, Ban Ki-moon announces that he is pondering on the possibility of sending a mission of observers to both Guyana and Venezuela to mediate in the dispute.
July 6 - Maduro enacts a law on border matters and a decree that establishes "comprehensive defense zones" for the maritime spaces.
July 7 - Maduro argues that with a view to putting an end to Guyana's "provocation," he would recall his ambassador; he also orders a "thorough review" of bilateral relations.
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