Guyana-Venezuela relations hit snag

The Guyana government on October 11th confirmed that the crew of a vessel conducting a multi-beam survey of the seafloor in the country’s exclusive economic zone had been arrested by Venezuela. A government statement described the incident, which occurred late on Thursday as “unprecedented in Guyana-Venezuela relations”. It insists that the seismic vessel, the RV Teknik Perdana, was in “Guyana’s waters when this regrettable incident took place. “In fact, Guyana has been exercising jurisdiction over the said area ever since the extension of the jurisdiction of coastal States was established under international law.  This was in fact made clearer after the passage of the Maritime Boundaries Act of 1977. “The second point is that the Venezuelan Navy vessel acted in contravention of the laws of Guyana and indeed international law when it entered Guyana’s waters and sought to intimidate the crew of the vessel and later ordered that vessel out of Guyana’s waters and escorted the vessel and crew to Venezuela.” Guyana said it has expressed to the Venezuela government “its grave concern about the incident involving the RV Teknik Perdana. “Guyana intends to employ all peaceful means to facilitate a return to the status quo ante since neither the Venezuelan frigate, the agents of Venezuela, its Government nor any other State has the authority to exercise any action in Guyana’s territorial waters, its continental shelf or its exclusive economic zone without its express consent.”

Courtesy: www.cananewsonline.com