UN General Assembly
2017

Striving for peace and the right to development have been Guyana’s most serious concerns since national independence in 1966. When I addressed the Assembly last September (see A/71/PV.8), I explained the danger that we have been facing on our borders as a consequence of the territorial claims of our neighbour to the West, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. I outlined to the world’s nations the peril that Guyana was enduring on its borders at the hands of Venezuela. Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory, however, has not diminished or been diverted. Guyana remains imperilled. Disturbing developments in Venezuela have attracted the world’s attention and roused the concerns of many of us about the privations of its people.