The government and the opposition yesterday condemned Venezuela’s latest activation of legislation to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region, noting that it violates the Argyle Agreement signed in December last year.
Georgetown put Caracas on notice that it will not countenance any decision that impugns this country’s sovereignty.
“The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana has taken note of the action taken today, April 3, 2024, by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to promulgate ‘the Organic Law for the Defense of Guayana Esequiba’. This attempt by Venezuela to annex more than two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory and make it part of Venezuela is an egregious violation of the most fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Charter of the Organisation of American States and customary international law,” the government said in a statement through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“It also contradicts the letter and spirit of the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela agreed to on December 14, 2023 in St Vincent and the Grenadines. This unlawful act calls into question Venezuela’s obligation to abide by the principles of that declaration. In this light, the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana wishes to put on notice the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the governments of the Caribbean Community and the Latin American and Caribbean community of nations, as well as the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States, that it will not countenance the annexation, seizure or occupation of any part of its sovereign territory,” the statement added.
Lawmakers in Venezuela allied with the Maduro regime had last month approved the creation of a new state in Essequibo, despite an ongoing international court case.
Reuters had reported that the approval was in line with the rhetoric from Nicolas Maduro about his country’s supposed right to govern the 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) Essequibo region, but will have no immediate practical effect.
The two countries agreed last December to avoid any use of force and not to escalate tensions in the dispute after a meeting between Maduro and President Irfaan Ali, brokered by Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves.
Reuters said that the law approving the new state, called Guayana Esequiba, would come into force as soon as it is published in the official gazette.
The state’s borders would be the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south, Guyana to the east and the Venezuelan states of Delta Amacuro and Bolivar to the west, according to the law.
The city of Tumeremo, in Bolivar, will serve as a capital “until a practical and mutually acceptable solution to the territorial controversy is reached with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” the law said, according to Reuters.
Maduro on Wednesday signed the documents, paving the way for it to be gazetted.
Meanwhile, the government said that Guyama has always stood by the principles of the United Nations Charter, the rule of law and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
It is as a result of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, to which Venezuela and Guyana are parties, government pointed out, that the International Court of Justice has ruled that it has jurisdiction to make a decision on the case brought before it by Guyana regarding the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which definitively settled the land boundary between the two countries.
“The court’s decision will be final and binding on both parties. If Venezuela wants to contest title to the territory in question, the proper forum is the International Court of Justice, which will decide the issue objectively and according to the law,” the statement said.
“Furthermore, the offensive and undignified statements made by President Maduro about the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana have not gone unnoticed. It is unfortunate that the commitment made at Argyle to ‘the pursuance of good neighbourliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean’ is now again seriously threatened by President Maduro’s words and actions,” the statement said.
The Parliamentary opposition joined with the government, as it does on border issues, and flayed Caracas noting with “deep concern, and alarm, the action taken by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela… in total violation of international law.
“… This illegal act has come at a time when the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela continues to take belligerent action against the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, including, the fraudulent referendum of December 3, 2023; the build-up of troops along the border and other provocative acts. These measures will neither contribute to the peaceful relations between the two countries nor the overall peace of the region.”
The opposition expressed that a zone of peace can hardly survive in these circumstances and that Venezuela has to take the responsibility for any further breakdown between Georgetown and Caracas.
Accordingly, the opposition said it not only rejected, “this organic law but condemns it as a flagrant violation of International Law, the Geneva Agreement and the letter and spirit of the recent joint Declaration of Argyle for dialogue and peace agreed to on December 14, 2023.
“Also, the ‘organic law’ is in clear violation of the recent decision of the ICJ which enjoined that ‘Pending a final decision in the case, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation which currently prevails in the territory of dispute…,’” it added.
The opposition highlighted that that the government and people of this country, “have not engaged in any aggressive action against the government and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, but rather have sought to solve the territorial controversy through peaceful and legal means, including the resort to the International Court of Justice which is now considering a final decision in this matter. “
It urged Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to” act responsibly and not further inflame the geo-political fault lines of the region, and thereby threaten its further peaceful development.”
