The Caribbean Community’s foreign affairs ministers have reiterated support for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in its border controversy with Venezuela and have taken note of this country’s move to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a final resolution of the matter.
The ministers reiterated their “unequivocal support for the maintenance and safeguarding of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the communique issued at the just-concluded 21st Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) held in The Bahamas.COFCOR noted that the Guyana Government filed its application with the ICJ on March 29 in keeping with the January 30 decision by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres, within the framework of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, to choose the ICJ as the means that is now to be used for the settlement of the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.
The ministers, the communique said, noted that the Secretary General’s decision, was in keeping with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, and that it was intended to bring a peaceful and definitive settlement to a longstanding controversy.