Venezuela thwarting final settlement of border controversy

President David Granger yesterday accused Venezuela of thwarting all attempts by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to find a way forward in settling its longstanding border controversy with Guyana and made an impassioned plea to the UN for protection against threats to this country’s security. For the second year running, Granger used his address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York to ramp up pressure on Caracas over the border controversy where Guyana has been seeking a juridical settlement while Venezuela is opposed to this. Venezuela elevated its claims to Guyana’s territory in May of 2015 in the aftermath of a major oil discovery in this country’s waters and has since made a series of aggressive moves to prosecute its case. Granger seized upon this yesterday in unusually strong language. “Venezuela’s claims… are a threat to our existence as an independent nation. They are a scandalous revival of the conquistadorial disease that once plagued its own history. They are a crime against our humanity, clothed in the verbiage of national honour,” the President declared.