UN chief for Guyana stop-over
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will be in Guyana Sunday evening on a brief stop-over and is expected to meet with the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge.Mr Ban will be on an in-transit flight out of Guyana and no meetings are scheduled with President David Granger, according to Mark Archer, Director of Communications at the President’s Office.
The UN Secretary General is expected to be in Guyana for about an hour or less and is not expected to leave the airport, Mr Archer told the Guyana Chronicle.
Mr Ban recently met with President Granger and the President Nicolas Maduro on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Mr Ban is responsible for coming up with a solution to the border controversy with Venezuela.
At last month’s meeting in New York, the Venezuelan President agreed to send back his Ambassador to Guyana and to accredit the new Guyanese Ambassador Cheryl Miles.
He had put the accreditation of Miles on hold after complaining about statements the Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge made to a Florida conference earlier this month.
Venezuela also agreed to accept a UN team in Caracas to investigate its claims that the 1899 award which settled the countries’ borders is null and void.
Afterwards, the team will report to the UN Secretary General for him to continue discussions to find a lasting solution to Venezuela’s claim.
At the meeting, President Granger made it clear that Guyana’s sole concern at this time is for a legal settlement to Venezuela’s claim.
Under an agreement signed in Geneva in February, 1966, President Granger insisted that it is the Secretary General who has specific responsibilities for dealing with this matter.
