The Guyana/Venezuela Border Controversy – Who’s Who

On 3rd December 2014, as Guyana and Venezuela were still wrangling over Venezuela’s audacious entry into Guyana’s territorial waters, the towing away of the seismic survey ship the RV Teknik Perdana and the arresting and charging of some of its crew, thousands of miles away, the portrait of Friedrich Fromhold de Martens (1845-1909), whose alleged activities stand at the heart of the modern border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, appeared on a stamp of the Russian Republic in recognition of his contributions in the field of international law.

Martens was the chairman of the 1899 arbitration tribunal that fixed the border between Guyana and Venezuela, and the main prop of Venezuela’s case to overthrow that tribunal’s decision rests upon a claim by Severo Mallet-Prevost, the secretary of the U.S./Venezuela delegation to the arbitration, that Martens made some kind of ‘deal’ with the British, which deprived Venezuela of the Essequibo lands.

Thus, in this controversy personalities are important and to bring our story to life and facilitate an appreciation of the seriousness with which the issue was taken and the people who were involved, what follows are snapshots of some of the main players in the arbitral process.

The Tribunal of Arbitration comprised the Right Honourable Baron Herschell (1837-1899) (whose place upon his death in February 1899 was taken by the Right Honourable Lord Russell of Killowen (1832–1900)) and the Right Honourable Sir Richard Henn Collins (1842–1911)