Editing Foreign relations of Guyana (section)

==International disputes==
All of the area west of the Essequibo River has at one point been under dispute, namely by Venezuela and Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |title=What to Know About Venezuela's Move to Claim Guyana Region |url=https://time.com/6343549/guyana-essequibo-region-venezuela-dispute/ |publisher=Time |date=2023-12-06 |access-date=2025-04-08}}</ref> In 1899, the government in Caracas reluctantly accepted the Venezuelan-Guyanese border but later revived its claim to the Essequibo in 1962.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guyana–Venezuela Territorial Dispute |url=https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2024/04/private-meeting-on-the-territorial-dispute-between-guyana-and-venezuela.php |publisher=Security Council Report |date=2024-04-01 |access-date=2025-04-08}}</ref> Suriname has an ongoing dispute with Guyana and this pertains to the area east of the Upper Courantyne.<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding the Guyana and Suriname Border Dispute |url=https://globalindiannetwork.com/guyana-and-suriname-border-dispute/ |publisher=Global Indian Network |date=2024-09-04 |access-date=2025-04-08}}</ref>


Currently, two neighbours have longstanding territorial disputes with Guyana. Since the 19th century, Venezuela has claimed the majority or all of Guyana situated west of the [[Essequibo River]] – 62% of Guyana's territory. At a meeting in Geneva in 1966, the two countries agreed to receive recommendations from a representative of the UN Secretary General on ways to settle the dispute peacefully. Diplomatic contacts between the two countries and the Secretary General's representative continue. In December 2023, president [[Nicolás Maduro]] called for a public [[referendum]] which resulted in the government of Venezuela officially claiming ownership of the Essequibo, claim that resulted in the [[2023 Guyana–Venezuela crisis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venezuelans approve a referendum to claim sovereignty over a swathe of neighboring Guyana |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuelans-vote-referendum-large-swathe-territory-dispute-guyana-105336154 |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2023-12-03 |title=Tensions rise as Venezuelans vote on disputed territory in neighbouring Guyana |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/03/tensions-rise-as-venezuelans-vote-on-disputed-territory-in-neighbouring-guyana |access-date=2023-12-06 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Neighbouring [[Suriname]] also claims the territory east of Guyana's New River, a largely uninhabited area of some {{convert|15000|km2|sqmi}} in southeast Guyana. Guyana and Suriname also disputed their offshore [[maritime boundary|maritime boundaries]]. This dispute flared up in June 2000 in response to an effort by a Canadian company to drill for oil under a Guyanese concession. Guyana regards its legal title to all of its territory as sound. However, the dispute with Suriname was arbitrated by the [[United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea]] and a ruling in favor of Guyana was announced in September 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2017-06-07.html |title=Welcome to guyanachronicle.com |access-date=9 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406062803/http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2017-06-07.html#Anchor----------24128 |archive-date=6 April 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>[http://landofsixpeoples.com/news701/nk0702053.html Guyana to experience ‘massive' oil exploration this year<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Business/Stories/2007/04/27/NEWS0000004303.html Business: News in the Caribbean – Caribbean360.com<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929100725/http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Business/Stories/2007/04/27/NEWS0000004303.html |date=29 September 2007 }}</ref>