The Government of Suriname further communicated its ‘conviction’ that the Corentyne River is "an integral part of the Surinamese territory and that therefore all the activities on this river fall within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Suriname". Further, grave concern was expressed "with regard to economic activities and acts of control in the area concerned by or with the consent of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana".

The Government of Suriname sought clarification as to whether there were any such activities taking place in the area concerned and that in the event that there were, "the Government of the Republic of Suriname would expect an immediate termination of such activities, in conformity with the internationally accepted principle of territorial integrity".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana by Note Verbale dated May 17, 2000 conveyed to the Government of Suriname a response that contained the following elements:
 
 

• The Ministry noted that the concerns expressed by the Surinamese Government were based on allegations contained in newspaper reports

• That "any exploration/exploitation activity which may be in progress at the present time with the permission of the Government of Guyana, is being conducted in the territory of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana". Concern was therefore expressed over the tenor of the communication from the Surinamese Government expecting the Guyana Government to terminate such activities immediately.

• It was reiterated that the position of the Government of Guyana was that the Corentyne River is a border river and as such attracts all the characteristics and features which such rivers bear in international law. Further, that the Government of Guyana still subscribed to the view that the resources of the Corentyne River [offshore area] ought to be explored and exploited for the economic benefit of the peoples of both countries.

• That the Guyana and Suriname National Border Commissions should reconvene at the earliest opportunity to continue deliberations on issues relating to developments in the Corentyne area [offshore area].

During those discussions, the Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that the Government of Guyana had always encouraged Suriname to come to an understanding based on the text of the original agreement on joint exploration and exploitation of the area of overlap which had been formulated during the Administrations of former Presidents Hoyte and Shankar.

On May 31, 2000 the Ambassador of Guyana was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Suriname to meet with the Foreign Minister who handed to him a Note dated May 31, 2000 which conveyed the following:

• That the "Corantijn River constitutes an integral part of the territory of the Republic of Suriname and therefore falls within its sovereignty".

• That from the point mark latitude 5 degrees 59’ 53".8 North, Longitude 57 degrees 08’ 51".5 West, the direction of the boundary line in the territorial waters is on a true bearing of 10 degrees East.

• That the territory located eastward of this demarcation line is considered an integral part of the Surinamese territory and all activities undertaken in this area without permission of that Government "constitute an illegal act". The Government was insisting strongly that all activities in the area be terminated forthwith.

• That the Government of Suriname was "determined to protect its territorial integrity and national sovereignty utilising all avenues offered by international law and international practice on these matters".

• That the Government of Guyana was invited to "deliberations in order to clarify any misunderstanding concerning the maritime border that may exist on the side of the Government of Guyana".

• That any exploration/exploitation activity, which may be in progress at the present time with the permission or at the instance of the Government of Guyana, was being conducted in the territory of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

• It reaffirmed the position of the Government of Guyana that the Corentyne River is a border river and as such attracts all the characteristics and features which such rivers bear in international law.

• That the Government of Guyana remained favourably disposed to engage in dialogue either at the bilateral or multilateral levels with a view to addressing any misunderstandings that may exist on the side of the Surinamese Government concerning the common maritime boundary between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname. In that regard, the Government of Guyana extended an invitation for the Government of Suriname to send a high level delegation to Georgetown within twenty-four (24) hours to commence dialogue on "these and other related matters".

The Note Verbale stated inter alia that:

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Government of Guyana strongly protested the incursion of Guyana’s airspace and territorial waters by Suriname aircraft and patrol vessels which took place on June 2 at 09:50 hours and 15:00 hours and on June 3 at 00:25 hours and 12:00 hours respectively at the site of the CGX oil - drilling operations located within Guyana’s maritime boundaries.

• The Ministry further protested the intimidatory measures and hostile actions employed by the Surinamese Navy against the personnel and property of CGX Resources Inc. while it was located in Guyana’s territorial waters and that despite these violations and intimidatory acts, the Government of Guyana remained ready to engage the Government of Suriname in a frank exchange of views with a view to addressing the misunderstandings that have arisen concerning the common maritime boundary between Guyana and Suriname.

• The Government of Suriname was urged to desist from committing further hostile activities in the sovereign territory of Guyana.

In his letter, HE the President highlighted the lack of good faith on the part of Suriname, since the actions which the Government of that country had taken, were executed while he was in contact with President Wijdenbosch and while Foreign Minister Rohee was negotiating with his Surinamese counterpart on an agreeable date and time for a meeting between the two sides with a view to finding a peaceful and mutually acceptable resolution of our differences on the matter.

The President of Guyana also recalled the discussions held by Heads of Government in consideration of Suriname’s application for membership of the Caribbean Community at the Sixth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held in Belize from February 16 to 17, 1995. He further recalled that the Conference at that meeting:

"Approved the application by Suriname for membership in the Caribbean Community and Common Market on the terms and conditions recommended by the Technical Group and accepted by Suriname;

Agreed that the approval of Suriname’s application takes effect from the Sixteenth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government;

Urged that in the interim, Member States and the Secretariat make every effort towards the resolution of the Suriname-Guyana border controversy as well as other outstanding difficulties which impede the development of relations between the two countries;

Also agreed that following the approval of Suriname’s application, these efforts be maintained with a view to persuading Suriname as a Member of the Community and the Common Market to develop with Guyana, the type of relations appropriate to Member States." (Note: Emphasis added).

In light of these decisions, the President of Guyana advised that he was writing to:

• Protest vigourously the aggressive actions by Suriname – a CARICOM Member State against the territorial integrity of Guyana, another Member State of the Community;

• Alert the Community through the Chairman of Conference to the recent developments in respect of Guyana’s relations with Suriname;

• Remind the Community through the Chairman of Conference about the decision adopted by the Heads in 1995; and

• Request that the Chairman use his good offices to take whatever action he deemed appropriate at the political and diplomatic levels consistent with the decisions of the Heads.

The first Special Ministerial Meeting was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on June 6, 2000. That meeting agreed that:

• A Joint Technical Committee should begin to work immediately with a view to discussing the conclusion of a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) proposed by Guyana, pertaining to the treatment of the granting of petroleum licences by Guyana and Suriname within the area of the North Eastern and North Western seaward boundaries of Guyana and Suriname respectively.

• It was expected that this MOU would be formulated within the context of the document signed by the then Foreign Ministers Jackson and Sedoc containing the decisions of former President Hoyte and former President Shankar. The MOU was also expected to treat with the CGX concession.

• The Joint Meetings of the respective National Border Commissions would be reconvened and the next meeting would be held no later than July 7, 2000.

• Immediate steps should be taken to convene the next Meeting of the Cooperation Council.

The President was "heartened by the spontaneous and united response of the Guyanese people in defence of our sovereign territory and the nation’s interest".

He reiterated that "Guyana has always viewed as important the development of harmonious, peaceful and productive relations with its neighbours.

He assured the citizens of Guyana however, that his Government "will not accept any threats of, or the resort to, the use of force by any external actor against this nation state. My Government stands firm on the maintenance of Guyana’s sovereignty and will take whatever action necessary to preserve and protect its territorial integrity".

On June 9, 2000 the Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community issued a statement on behalf of the Community which welcomed "the process of dialogue to which the two Parties have resorted" and expressed "the hope that they will find, through that constructive approach, a mutually satisfactory solution to the current difficulties."

The Statement went on to say that "the Community and its various institutions stand ready, within their capacity, to provide to the two Parties whatever assistance they may require in the resolution of their current difficulties".

The second series of meetings between Guyana and Suriname were held in Georgetown, Guyana over the period June 13 and 14, 2000 at the Technical and Ministerial level.

Suriname proposed that Guyana revokes the licence to CGX and that Suriname in turn would re-issue the licence.

Guyana proposed joint sharing of the resources and rejected the Surinamese proposal regarding the revocation of the licence to CGX.

This meeting was inconclusive. Suriname was presented with the "Basic Elements of the Guyana Proposal" which in effect was formulated on the basis of the proposals put forward to the Suriname delegation in Trinidad and Tobago.

The third round of meetings was held in Paramaribo, Suriname from June 17 to 18, 2000. Among the proposals which Guyana put forward were:

• That the area in dispute be designated a Special Area for the Sustainable Development of Guyana and Suriname. In this regard an Inter-Governmental Guyana/Suriname Authority could be established to manage the area pending the settlement of the maritime boundary;

• That at the same time negotiations to find an acceptable solution to the border dispute be placed on fast track.

• Suriname requested a copy of the Agreement signed with CXG. Guyana indicated that it would have no difficulty in considering the provision of the Agreement once the issue was placed within a framework linked to the number of requests which Guyana had already made: i.e. (a) the situation regarding the return of the rig to Eagle; (b) the fast track approach to the delimitation of the maritime boundary; and (c) the reconvening of the Cooperation Council at which forum discussions could take place on furthering functional cooperation between the two countries.

While President Jagdeo welcomed the invitation, he requested President Wijdenbosch to submit new proposals before such a meeting took place.

At the request of the Government of Guyana, the current difficulties between Guyana and Suriname were discussed at the Sixth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers in Barbados on June 19, 2000.

Guyana recalled the decisions of the 1995 Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Heads of Government and requested that Suriname be requested to uphold those decisions. Further, that Suriname should be requested to desist from the use of force to resolve any outstanding matters with Guyana and that the Heads of Government should discuss the matter in the spirit of the 1995 decision adopted by the Conference.

The Community Council decided to "recall the statement issued by the Chairman of the Conference and has recommended that the Heads of Government at their meeting in July 2000, consider discussing the matter bearing in mind the spirit of the 1995 decision of the Conference.

The Government of Guyana has formally requested that the developments in the relations between Guyana and Suriname be placed on the agenda of the Twenty-First Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community scheduled to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines from July 2 to 5, 2000.

On June 23, 2000 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs despatched a Note Verbale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Suriname protesting the violation of Guyana’s airspace by a Surinamese Defence Aircraft over the New River Area at approximately 09:59 hours and at approximately 10:22 hours on Thursday June 22, 2000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it viewed this as a provocation on the part of the Surinamese authorities especially in view of statements issued in support of the peaceful resolution of disputes by the Chairman of CARICOM, the international community and contrary to assurances given by the Surinamese delegation at the Third Special Ministerial Meeting convened in Paramaribo, Suriname on June 17 and 18, 2000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that the Government of Suriname desist from conducting these intrusions into Guyana’s airspace and reiterated the determination of the Government of Guyana to protect and defend its territorial integrity.