evidence: Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General, famously remarked a decade ago "You can do a lot with diplomacy but, of course, you can do a lot more with diplomacy backed up by fairness and force." This aphorism became an axiom in Guyana’s relations with its neighbours 40 years ago. In each of the first five years of statehood, Guyana’s territorial integrity was severely tested. The seizure of Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni River in 1966; the intrusion at Oronoque in the New River in 1967; the publication of Venezuela’s ‘Leoni’ decree purporting to annex part of the Essequibo in 1968; the rebellion in the Rupununi and the incursion in the New River in 1969; and the confrontation at Eteringbang on the Cuyuni River in 1970 were all approached with diplomacy backed up by a credible and capable defence force. [...] As Venezuela revived its claims to the Essequibo on the approach of Guyana’s independence, The Netherlands took the opportunity to press the claim that the New River (which it now began to refer to as the Upper Corentyne) was the boundary and all the land to the east of that river belonged to Suriname. When the British garrison departed Guyana in October 1966, Venezuela’s National Armed Forces seized the island of Ankoko in the Cuyuni River and Suriname, similarly, tried to seize the New River.