ABSTRACT
The period 1962 to 1966 and beyond was marked by conciliatory efforts on the part of both Venezuela and Britain, supplemented by forceful activities on Venezuela's part, designed to stress its seriousness about pursuing its claim to the Essequibo. Throughout the ministerial conferences, Britain and British Guiana had maintained the validity of the 1899 award and had refused to recognize that any controversy existed over the border per se, that is, that any claim could validly be made to the territory of British Guiana. The first ministerial conference was held in London from November 5 to 7, 1963, to review the progress that had been made so far in the study of the documents. The First Special Inter-American Conference was held in Washington D.C. from December 16 to 18, 1964, to study the topic of the admission of new members to the Organization of American States.
