Caribbean countries may ask the United Nations to help settle a decades-old dispute with Venezuela over territorial rights to waters around a tiny, uninhabited island that some believe sits near oil and natural gas deposits, officials said.
THE VALLEY, Anguilla — Caribbean countries may ask the United Nations to help settle a decades-old dispute with Venezuela over territorial rights to waters around a tiny, uninhabited island that some believe sits near oil and natural gas deposits, officials said.
Venezuela has long maintained ownership of Isla de Aves, or Bird Island, which is located about 565 kilometers (350 miles) north of Venezuela but is closer to eastern Caribbean islands such as Dominica and Antigua.
Antiguan Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said Sunday that the 15-member Caribbean Community was concerned about Venezuela's stance in recently reaffirming its ownership of the island by holding weddings and baptisms at a military outpost there.
Spencer said the bloc, known as Caricom, planned to announce a plan of action soon that could include appealing to the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention for mediation.
"Venezuela clearly has a strategy for Aves Island and we have to do something about it," Baldwin told The Associated Press at the start of a two-day regional summit in Anguilla. "They are not letting up at all."
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Venezuela has defended its ownership of the island since 1865 and maintains its claim to the dry, treeless speck of land is undeniable.
The United States, France and the Dominican Republic have recognized Venezuela's ownership of the island in treaties laying out sea territory limits. Aves also was under Spanish jurisdiction during colonial times.
Some Eastern Caribbean leaders have argued Aves is not a true island but rather a sandbar, and that therefore Dominica has more of a claim to waters off the island. Dominica lies just 225 kilometers (140 miles) east of Aves.
The waters off Aves teem with tuna, grouper and red snapper, while oil and natural gas are thought to lie under the sea floor.
Venezuela recognizes a 12-mile (19-kilometer) zone from its coasts as territorial waters.
But some Caribbean officials, including Dominica Foreign Minister Charles Savarin, say they are concerned that the South American country's 200-nautical-mile "exclusive economic zone" could be considered to encompass several Caribbean nations, including Montserrat and Grenada.
"We may need some kind of international arbitration to solve this problem," Savarin said. "We are not ruling out anything, but if it becomes necessary, we will have it resolved internationally."
Venezuela has for decades had a small outpost on the island shared by naval troops and scientists doing research. The country recently spent US$9 million to remodel the outpost, which is used by biologists and troops who regularly rotate on and off the island.
Venezuela and Eastern Caribbean countries have yet to decide on sea boundaries around the island. The issue remains unresolved despite Venezuela's recent agreement to sell Caribbean nations fuel under preferential terms to help them cope with high oil prices.
Source: Associated Press
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