Position Paper
Ciara Curry
Mr. Passalaris
Period 2
3/2/02


The Essequibo Valley Conflict is a Border dispute between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in which both countries are claiming that Essequibo Valley be in their possession. In 1966, Guyana became an independent country and signed an agreement that would create a group to try to settle the growing dispute. The group met six times between 1966 and 1970, unable to reach a solution. In 1970, the disputing countries signed a treaty called the Protocol of Port-of-Spain by which they agreed to maintain the status quo for 12 years, and if there was still no solution, the dispute would be submitted to international mediation. Sadly, there was no solution by 1982 when the treaty expired. The Peoples Republic of China understands that each country desires possession of the Essequibo Valley Region we are appalled by the actions of both Guyana and Venezuela. To begin, Venezuela invaded Guyana and not only that but they also put some Guyanese citizens in concentration camps where they were tortured, abused, raped and murdered. As an act of retaliation, a Guyanese terrorist group, “Free Essequibo”, bombed the Venezuelan capital killing 300 government employees and 15 Japanese businessmen. The Peoples Republic of China finds these acts un-necessary and immature. This dispute should be taken into consideration by the Security Council because we feel that if not solved soon, it could result more invasions, more deaths and maybe even war.
The Peoples Republic of China does indeed interact with both of the disputing countries. We have recently made a huge deal with Venezuela that allows us to meet a large portion of our needs with Venezuelan oil. But in 1971, we signed an agreement with Guyana on the Mutual Establishment of Commercial Offices. China is in a border dispute with Taiwan, which China feels is rightfully their land. Therefore we understand the positions that both countries are in.
The Peoples Republic of China will remain neutral in this conflict. Since we interact with both countries, we think it will be fair to both countries if we don’t pick sides. Also that way we have a narrower chance of completely losing ties with one of the countries. In addition to the previous statement, I remind you that both countries took part in war-like actions so both countries are at fault. We want an outside look on the conflict and being a part of the Security Council, we want our judgment to be impartial.
The main action we are planning to do is calling for immediate cease-fire. This will help prevent further violence between the disputing countries. We want each party’s outtake on how the invasion happened so we want to request to provide information on war crimes occurring in the disputing countries. We are also prepared to send in 5000 troops to create a peacekeeping unit.
The Peoples Republic of China believes that by calling for immediate cease-fire, the conflict can be solved easier and violence free. We are willing to Provide 5000 troops for a peacekeeping unit to try to solve the conflict. The unit should be established within 4 to 5 months after a resolution has been reached. The Peoples Republic of China would like for our actions to take place but our main concern is to get the conflict solved.