1954 Geneva Conference left Geneva on May 3 and was replaced by his deputy Walter Bedell Smith. The State of Vietnam refused to attend the negotiations until Bidault wrote to Bảo Đại, assuring him that any agreement would not partition Vietnam. Bidault opened the conference on May 8 by proposing a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire in place, a release of prisoners, and a disarming of irregulars, despite the French surrender at Điện Biên Phủ the previous day in northwestern Vietnam. On May 10, Phạm Văn Đồng, the leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) delegation set out their position, proposing a
Geneva Agreement (1966) contention that the "Arbitral Award of 1899 about the frontier between British Guyana and Venezuela is null and void", followed by Venezuela declaring ownership of a large portion of Guyana's territory. The Geneva Agreement was published in the Nº 28.008 Official Gazette of Venezuela of 15 April 1996 and subsequently registered by this same country on 5 May 1966 in the General Office of the Organization of the United Nations under registration number Nº I-8192. Three months later after signing the agreement, on 26 May 1966, the British Guyana colony receives the independence, being called from then on "Republic of