Guyana’s legal team is currently preparing a file to submit to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in relation to the longstanding controversy with neighbouring Venezuela.
On Thursday, Prime Minister (ag) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, said the legal team has been in discussion with the relevant authorities in their preparation. “It’s a process that is in train. It has not yet been submitted to the ICJ but it will be shortly”, he said.
The minister was responding to questions from the media at the launch of ‘Guyana Our Own’, a song that provides information on the Guyana Venezuela controversy and forms part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ public awareness campaign on the issue.
The tune was produced and sung by Marlon Simon, popularly known as Blaze Anthonio who said he is thrilled to be a part of such significant initiative.
Sir Shridath Ramphal, who is Guyana’s Legal Adviser on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy expressed his confidence in Guyana’s legal team, noting that “the case is in good hands. It is in the hands of the same team that won the judicial proceeding with Suriname. We’re going to work again to finish the job.”
Earlier this year, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres announced he was referring the decades-old controversy to the ICJ. This move followed unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter through the various mechanisms outlined in the Geneva Agreement signed between Guyana and Venezuela in 1966.
The controversy arose after Venezuela claimed that the Arbitral Award of 1899, which established the border it shares with Guyana, is null and void. The two countries, under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, turned to the UN Secretary-General to resolve what became a controversy under the Charter of the UN.
However, Venezuela has since rejected the decision taken by the UN to have the border controversy settled by the ICJ.
Ramphal at an earlier forum had posited that “what is at stake is two-thirds of the country and if Venezuela had its way, almost all of our maritime space… It is a colossal step forward that Guyana has gotten to Geneva. We sought a judicial settlement for over 50 years and it is finally in hand.”
