With the dawning of the new year, assurances have been given that Guyana is in preparation mode for its border case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Guyana will submit its memorial on the border controversy with Venezuela in March.
During his New Year message, President Dr Irfaan Ali spoke of his Government’s preparations for the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy case. Specifically, Guyana was given the date of March 8, 2022, to submit its memorial on the case to the ICJ.
“My fellow Guyanese, following the ICJ ruling on the jurisdiction in the case regarding the Guyana-Venezuela controversy, we’ve been putting all our efforts into preparing to submit our memorial on the merits of our case by March 8, 2022. We’ll not rest in our efforts to preserve our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
President Ali also assured that on the foreign policy front, his Government would continue to enhance Guyana’s international profile. This will be a feature in Guyana’s interactions at the regional and international level.
“Equally, we will continue to be a responsible member of the international community, enhancing our profile at the regional and international levels,” President Ali said in his video broadcast.
Guyana filed its case against Venezuela with the World Court on March 29, 2018, seeking a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award which established the location of the land boundary between the then-British Guiana and Venezuela remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela, as is being claimed by the Spanish-speaking country.
Guyana moved to the World Court after exhausting all means of negotiation with Venezuela and the failed good offices process between the two South American neighbours. Then United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, in January 2018, decided that the case should be settled by the ICJ after exercising the powers vested in him to decide how the controversy should be settled by the 1966 Geneva Agreement between Guyana, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.
The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945, and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 Judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.
The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
Back in March 2021, ICJ had granted Guyana until March 8, 2022, to file its written submissions for the case, after requesting 12 months. Venezuela was given until March 8, 2023, to submit its counter-memorial.
The Spanish-speaking nation is laying claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass in Essequibo and a portion of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in which more than nine billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past six years.
In his address to the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly last year, President Dr Irfaan Ali had informed the world about Venezuela’s continued disregard for international norm in pushing its illegal claim to Guyana and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The President had also used meetings with the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to update them on Venezuelan’s actions, which had run the gamut from incendiary statements to issuing decrees. Following his meeting with Caricom, the community had issued a statement rebuking Venezuela and urging it to adhere to the ICJ process.
