Press Release - 127th Anniversary of the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899
PRESS STATEMENT
GUYANA COMMEMORATES THE 127TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARBITRAL AWARD OF 3 OCTOBER 1899
The Government and people of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana commemorate the 127th anniversary Of the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899, which definitively established the land boundary between Guyana, then British Guiana, and Venezuela.
The Award was the culmination of arbitral proceedings conducted pursuant to the Treaty of Washington of 1897. Following extensive written and oral submissions by the parties, the distinguished international Tribunal rendered its unanimous Award on 3 October 1899. The boundary determined by the Tribunal was subsequently demarcated On the ground by a joint British-Venezuelan Boundary Commission and, in 1905, the parties signed an agreement formally recording their acceptance of the demarcated boundary.
For more than six decades thereafter, Venezuela recognized, respected and relied upon the 1899 Award and the boundary established pursuant to it. It was not until 1962, on the eve of Guyana's independence, that Venezuela departed from its longstanding position and asserted that the Award was null and void.
Guyana has consistently maintained that the Arbitral Award of 1899 is valid and binding and constitutes a full, perfect and final settlement of the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela. Guyana remains equally steadfast in its conviction that respect for established international boundaries, the sanctity of treaties and the peaceful settlement of disputes ace fundamental principles of international law and indispensable safeguards for all States, particularly small States.
The controversy arising from Venezuela's contention concerning the validity of the Award is governed by the Geneva Agreement of 17 February 1966. That Agreement established a peaceful process for resolving the controversy and, importantly, entrusted the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the circumstances provided for under Article IV, with the mandate of choosing the means of settlement.
After decades of failed bilateral negotiations to resolve the controversy, United Nations Secretary-Generai Antonio Guterres, acting pursuant to the authority conferred upon him under the Geneva Agreement, chose the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the means for its settlement in January 2018. Guyana thereafter instituted proceedings before the Court on 29 March 2018.
The International Court of Justice has twice affirmed its jurisdiction in the case. The Court has determined that the parties, through the Geneva Agreement, conferred upon the United Nations Secretary-General the authority to select the means of settlement and that his choice Of judicial settlement before the Court was made pursuant to that authority. The judicial process before the ICJ is therefore not contrary to the Geneva Agreement; it is the lawful culmination Of the process established by that Agreement.
From 4 to 11 May 2026, the Court held public hearings on the merits of the case, during which the parties presented their legal arguments concerning the validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award. Guyana asked the Court to affirm that the Award is legally valid and binding and that the international boundary established by it remains the lawful boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.
With the oral proceedings now concluded, the Court is deliberating on its judgment. Guyana looks forward to the Court rendering its decision in the coming months and remains confident in the strength of its case, the historical record and the applicable principles of international law.
The Government of Guyana recalls that a judgment of the International Court of Justice in this case will be final and legally binding upon both Guyana and Venezuela. Guyana has repeatedly affirmed that it will respect and abide by the judgment of the Court and expects Venezuela, as a Member State of the United Nations and a party to these proceedings, to do likewise.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Georgetown, Guyana
October 5, 2026