By Ronald Austin

Former Guyana Ambassador to Beijing, China

Professor Philippe Sands, easily one of the most brilliant men I have ever met, ended his presentation on the “Mallet-Prevost Memorandum” before the black-clad judges of the International Court of Justice on 8 May with remarkable rhetorical flourish. He referred to the painting by the Guyanese artist Sir Frank Bowling entitled Who’s Afraid of Barney Newman?

Sands explained that Bowling was born in Barima in 1934 and that, if the Venezuelans had their way, he would no longer be able to say that he had been born in British Guiana. The deeper message of the painting, Sands suggested, was that Guyana must remain whole and not be dismembered by the rapacious territorial ambitions of Venezuela.

But Sands was not alone in Guyana’s defence. He was supported by a sparkling legal team that included Paul Reichler, a master at managing both persons and time; the polite and refined Professor Alain Pellet, fresh from the Sorbonne; Nilufer Oral, an outstanding jurist; Professor Pierre d’Argent, stately and cultured in bearing; and the young Edward Craven, surprisingly youthful for a King’s Counsel.

Together, they presented an impressive and, in my humble judgment, unanswerable case that the 1899 Arbitral Award — which settled the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela and led to the subsequent demarcation of the frontier — remains valid and legally binding. I do not see how the judges of the ICJ can rule against Guyana in the circumstances. I had the opportunity in a meeting to tell these legal representatives how impressed I was by their commitment to my country. Later I received the personal thanks of Philippe Sands, who said that my words meant a lot to him. He also said that he has been puzzled for a long time how a small country like Guyana with a small population can produce such brilliant people. He was referring to Sonny Ramphal and the other Guyanese lawyers he had met, especially Mohammed Shahadubbeen.

The longstanding border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela has now reached a critical juncture. The recently concluded final hearings on the merits before the ICJ, held from 4 to 11 May, were intended to bring closure to a matter that has hung like an albatross around Guyana’s neck for decades.

As every Guyanese knows, the dispute centres on the territory of Essequibo, a region rich in natural resources and immense geopolitical significance. It also contains six of Guyana’s ten administrative regions. Guyana has asked the Court to provide an authoritative legal resolution to a conflict that has persisted for more than a century and has shaped relations not only between Guyana and Venezuela, but also within the wider Latin American and Caribbean region.

The ICJ became formally involved in the controversy when Guyana filed its application in 2018, seeking a judicial determination that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and enforceable. The Good Offices Process, which had preceded the application for many years, had effectively exhausted itself. Venezuela initially challenged the Court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the matter should be resolved through bilateral negotiations under the framework of the 1966 Geneva Agreement. However, in December 2020, the Court ruled that it did possess jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute, thereby paving the way for hearings on the merits.

During the final hearings, Guyana’s legal team emphasized the legitimacy of the 1899 Award, drawing upon historical maps, diplomatic correspondence, and the conduct of both states over many decades. They argued persuasively that international law supports the principle that colonial administrative boundaries remain intact upon independence. In Guyana’s case, this principle affirms its sovereignty over Essequibo.

Venezuela, for its part, adhered to its longstanding contention that the arbitration had been tainted by fraud and collusion involving the British and American arbitrators. I sat in court amazed as speaker after speaker for Venezuela informed the attentive judges that they did not recognize the authority or jurisdiction of the Court. To my non-legal ears, this sounded perilously close to judicial suicide.

Moreover, several Venezuelan representatives adopted a loud and eristic tone in presenting their arguments. None more so than Delcy Rodríguez, the Vice-President of Venezuela, who did not spare the feelings of the judges when she declared that her country would not recognize the Court’s decision if it ruled in favour of Guyana. In short, Venezuela’s case often appeared to be “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Let us be clear. The eventual judgment of the ICJ will have profound consequences. A ruling in favour of Guyana would provide legal certainty, reinforce the country’s international standing, and potentially unlock further economic development in the Essequibo region, particularly in the oil and mining sectors.

There are some, however, who fear that the Court may attempt to craft a decision that spares Venezuela’s blushes. Judges, after all, are not entirely immune to the direction of geopolitical winds.

I must end on a personal note. I have served in the Guyana Foreign Service for a very long time. In a sense, my participation in these final hearings at the ICJ represented the capstone of a career during which I did my small part to keep the Venezuelan wolf from our door.

I felt the weight of history as I wandered through the halls of the Peace Palace, that unrivalled symbol of diplomatic institutionalism and judicial prestige. It was through these same halls that Friedrich Martens — the Russian jurist who presided over the critically important 1899 Arbitral Tribunal — once walked when he attended the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, gatherings that played a foundational role in the development of international arbitration as a civilized means of resolving disputes between states.

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