Guyana, Venezuela to prepare for maritime delimitation negotiations

Research Vessel Teknik Perdana

Thursday 17 October 2013 – Demerara Waves

Guyana and Venezuela Thursday night agreed that they would within four months begin groundwork for the start of negotiations for the delimitation of their maritime boundary, in the wake of last week’s arrest of a seismic research ship by the Venezuelan navy.

Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said that during the six-hour meeting in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad with her delegation and one headed by Venezuela’s Foreign Relations Minister, Elías Jaua the two countries held on to their position that the Research Vessel Teknik Perdana was in each other’s waters when it was intercepted and arrested last week Thursday.

“In this regard, Ministers Rodrigues-Birkett and Jaua agreed to explore mechanisms within the context of international law to address the issue of maritime delimitation. To this end, they agreed that a technical team would meet within four months to exchange views on how such delimitation could proceed,” the two delegations said in a statement.   

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Research Vessel – “Teknik Perdana”

A Venezuela frigate yesterday  [October 10, 2013], shadowed a research vessel for a US oil explorer in Guyana’s waters and later forced it to the Venezuelan island of Margarita where it is presently detained, sparking a strong protest from Guyana.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning said: “The Government of Guyana is of the firm belief that the actions taken by the Venezuelan navy vessel constitute a serious threat to the peace of this sub-region and the Government of Guyana therefore strongly condemns these actions.”