President Irfaan Ali yesterday told the United Nations General Assembly that as Guyana contends with Venezuelan aggression 58 years and counting, it hopes that its western neighbour adheres to International Court of Justice rulings and also sought support from member nations to ensure the rule of law is followed in this hemisphere.
“The United Nations has a special responsibility for the security of small states. Small states look to multilateralism and the rule of international law to protect them from foreign aggression. Guyana is a small state that has had to contend with aggression from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for all 58 years of our nationhood,” Ali yesterday stated during his address to the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“International law and its strict application have been our armour and our shield in our determination to protect ourselves from this aggression. We remind this august assembly that the border between Guyana and Venezuela was fully, finally, and perfectly settled, in an 1899 award by an International Tribunal,” he added.
Ali noted that Venezuela was fully represented in that tribunal whose award it proclaimed in its own Congress and welcomed for more than six decades before reopening the issue on the eve of Guyana’s independence in 1966, thus claiming two-thirds of this country’s territory.
“This controversy, initiated by Venezuela, was submitted by Guyana to the International Court of Justice [ICJ] in accordance with a decision of the United Nations Secretary General and consistent with our position to settle this matter by legal and peaceful means. In 2023, in light of intensified acts of aggression by Venezuela, the ICJ issued provisional measures…”
Quoting the provisional measures issued by the World Court, he highlighted that after years of refusing to participate in the proceedings of the ICJ and stating that it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the Court, the
Venezuelan government has submitted a counter memorial to Guyana’s submission.
“We welcome Vene-zuela’s decision to participate in the Court’s proceedings, and express the hope that Venezuela will accept the decision of the Court, as Guyana has long pledged to do,” Ali stated.
“I reaffirm Guyana’s unwavering commitment to a peaceful resolution of this longstanding controversy in full conformity with international law and the principles set forth in the United Nations Charter,” he added.
In April of this year, the UN Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement following Venezuela’s promulgation of “The Organic law for the Defense of Guyana Esequiba”, reminding Georgetown and Caracas of their obligation to comply with the Order of Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on December 1st 2023.
Those measures had stated, and which Ali also quoted yesterday, “Pending a final decision in the case, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Co-operative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over the area.”
In so doing, the ICJ urged that both countries refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to revoke.
The UNSC statement had followed a meeting by the Security Council the week before at the request of President Irfaan Ali, to address Venezuela’s approval of the creation of a new state in Essequibo.
