1905 Map of Ankoko Island (shown in the circle)

Ankoko Island (Spanish: Isla de Anacoco) is an island located at the confluence of the Cuyuni River and Wenamu River, at 6°43′N 61°8′W / 6.717°N 61.133°W / 6.717; -61.133, on the border between Venezuela and Guyana.

The Ankoko Island border was finalized in 1905 by the British-Venezuelan Mixed Boundry Commission, in accordance with the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899. However, in the 20th century, the government of Venezuela officially sought to abrogate the legal borders and revert to the colonial boundary of the Essequibo river as set by the Spanish Empire. In 1966, five months after Guyana gained independence, the Venezuelan armed forces crossed the boundary on Ankoko Island and has occupied the Guyanese side of the island ever since, in violation of the peace treaty set forth by the Geneva Agreement.

The status of the island is subject to the Geneva Agreement, which was signed by the United Kingdom, Venezuela and British Guiana on 17 February 1966. This treaty stipulates that the parties will agree to find a practical, peaceful and satisfactory solution to the border dispute.[1] Venezuela, which claims Ankoko Island as part of Guayana Esequiba, established a military base on the island in 1966, which Guyana claims as an intrusion and aggression on its sovereign territory.

Due to a stalemate in talks and lack of progress with the Geneva Agreement, the Secretary-General referred the entire matter to the International Court of Justice. On 18 December 2020, the ICJ accepted the case submitted by Guyana to settle the dispute.[2]

History

Venezuelan occupation

In February 1966, the governments of Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Guyana signed the Geneva Agreement aimed at resolving the controversy over the Essequibo territorial dispute.[3]

Five months after Guyana's independence from the United Kingdom, Venezuelan troops began their occupation of Ankoko Island in October 1966.[4] Venezuelan troops quickly constructed military installations and an airstrip.[5]

Subsequently, on the morning of the 14 October 1966, Forbes Burnham, as Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs of Guyana, dispatched a protest to the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Ignacio Iribarren Borges, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Venezuelan troops and the removal of installations they had established.[6] Venezuelan minister Ignacio Iribarren Borges replied stating "the Government of Venezuela rejects the aforementioned protest, because Anacoco Island is Venezuelan territory in its entirety and the Republic of Venezuela has always been in possession of it".[6] The island remains under Venezuelan administration, where a Venezuelan airport and a military base operate.[6]

Recent history

During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, interim president Juan Guaidó and the National Assembly of Venezuela renewed territory disputes with Guyana regarding sovereignty of the island. Specifically when National Assembly deputies visited the island "as an act of ratification of Venezuelan sovereignty over the area".[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Agreement to resolve the controversy over the frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana (Treaty of Geneva, 1966) from UN
  2. ↑ Summary of the Judgement of 18 December 2020
  3. ↑ "Agreement to Resolve the Controversy over the Frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana (Geneva Agreement) | UN Peacemaker". peacemaker.un.org. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Guyana wants ICJ to order Venezuela off Ankoko". The Guyana Chronicle. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  5. ↑ Hopkins, Jack W. (1984). Latin America and Caribbean Contemporary Record: 1982-1983, Volume 2. Holmes & Meier Publishers. ISBN 9780841909618.
  6. 1 2 3 "Raúl Leoni paró en seco a Guyana en la Isla Anacoco (documento)". La Patilla. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "Asamblea Nacional ratificó la soberanía de Venezuela sobre el Esequibo". El Nacional (in Spanish). 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
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6°43′N 61°8′W / 6.717°N 61.133°W / 6.717; -61.133

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