Venezuelan
Border
Dispute
A Project by Ryan Biery,
Stephen Ilnitzki and John
Kolios
What Happened?
 Great
Britain was trying to expand their
South American territory, British Guiana,
by impeding on Venezuelan land.
 Venezuela asked for US’s help
 United States intervened, claiming it was
their duty under the Monroe Doctrine.
The Beginning
 Venezuela
and British Guiana were
arguing over the border for nearly a
century
 In 1895, President Cleveland officially
supported Venezuela
US Backs Venezuela
 Americans
were strongly sympathetic
towards Venezuela
 The United States demanded for
arbitration on behalf of Venezuela
 Secretary of state, Richard Olney,
charged Britain with violating the Monroe
Doctrine
Attempts at Resolution
 Us
threatened Britain with military action
unless they agreed to negotiate
 Britain backed down because of fears
with Germany
 Needed the support of the United States
The Final Result
 Britain
accepted the arbitration after
bitter tensions between the United States
and England reached a peak
 Allowed the joint commission of both
British and American representatives to
decide the final border.
 Decision was approved by both the British
and the Venezuelans.
Venezuelan Response
 Venezuelans
supported the United States’
cause because they asked for it in the first
place.
 In the end, they got the border they
wanted, and Britain stopped intruding on
their land.
Motives vs. Justifications
 United
States justified their actions by
claiming they were defending the
Monroe Doctrine
 In reality, they were trying to scare the old
world out of the western hemisphere by
asserting their dominance
Superman or Mafia Don?
 The
United States was acting more as a
Super Man
 Demonstrated Super Man qualities by
trying to resolve the conflict with
arbitration.
 Helped Venezuela without asking for
anything in return
Beneficial or Not?
 Definitely
beneficial because border
dispute was going on for a long time
 United States was able to put a long
argued issue to rest
 Beneficial for United States because it
asserter their dominance in the Western
Hemisphere as a world power
Works Cited
 "American
Intervention in the GuayanaVenezuela Border Dispute." Guyana News
and Information. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.guyana.org/features/guyan
astory/chapter84.html>.
 "The Venezuelan Boundary Dispute."
Distance Learning | Independent Study |
MU - CDIS. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.
<http://cdis.missouri.edu/exec/data/cour
ses2/6562/lesson01/commentary.asp>.