Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse

As Guyana continues to garner international support with regard to the Venezuela-Guyana border controversy, Suriname has again signalled its intent to pursue its claim on the New River Triangle (Tigri) area.

Reports in the Surinamese media are that President Desi Bouterse recently told Suriname’s National Assembly that this issue would be placed on his country’s agenda once more.

This is as a result of that country’s President opining that he had ‘no choice’ but to do so.

However, Guyana’s Head of State, David Granger has maintained that the claim to the New River Triangle is “spurious”.

“As you know Suriname has laid claim to part of our sea space and that had to be determined by international tribunal and it was determined in Guyana’s favour… Suriname also claims the New River Triangle; it encompasses an area of land which is larger than Jamaica. Suriname claims the Corentyne River that is still a matter of controversy,” Guyana’s President stated.

He explained that while this position taken by President Bouterse was “nothing new”, the Government was of the view that the claim in relation to the New River Triangle area was spurious and measures had been taken in the past to protect Guyana’s territorial sovereignty.

“There has never been any treaty which demarcated the boundary between Guyana and Suriname. I read the statement attributed to President Bouterse, but, as far as I am concerned, it doesn’t change the price of rice. You cannot convene a meeting of your Parliament and change the boundaries of your country,” President Granger noted.

Guyana Times was also told that Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge would be tasked with meeting the Surinamese Ambassador to Guyana soon and this matter would be “dealt with the clarification” from Suriname’s Ambassador.

“It seems to be quite opaque. We are aware of the historical claim that Suriname has made for the New River. I think this is not the time and this is not the place…” he added.

Guyana Times understands that the De Ware Tijd online news site in Suriname on Wednesday stated that Bouterse made the announcement about claiming the area as he referred to a number of international conflicts and developments which threaten the sovereignty of countries globally.

The De Ware Tijd noted that this was the first time in years its Government appeared to want to give “serious attention to the issue”.

It should be noted that the last serious attempt to resolve this and other border issues with Guyana was in 1998.

In 1840, Robert Schomburgk surveyed the then British Guiana’s borders; for the western border, he used the Corentyne River as the border and sailed up to its source, the Kutari River, in order to demarcate the boundary.

However, in 1871, Charles Barrington Brown discovered the New River, which he considered the “true source” of the Corentyne. Hence, the New River Triangle controversy erupted between the two countries.

Guyana Times was made to understand that the tribunal which dealt with the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 had also awarded the New River Triangle to the then British Guiana.

As a result, a diplomatic protest was raised by the Netherlands, claiming that the New River, and not the Kutari, was to be regarded as the source of the Corentyne and the boundary.

However, the British Government in 1900 replied that the issue was already settled by the long acceptance of the Kutari as the boundary. (kristenm@guyanatimesgy.com)