Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo today assured that the Government of Guyana remains vigilant as President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro promulgates the “Organic Law for the Defense of Guayana Esequiba.”
During his weekly press conference, Jagdeo said “we are not going to let our guards down so I hope that our country recognises this. Our lawyers and everyone have been briefed on this matter.”
Venezuela’s attempts to annex more than two-thirds of Guyana’s sovereign territory and make it part of the Spanish-speaking state is a violation 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. It also contradicts the ongoing process before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Jagdeo said that the Government has notified its partners on the “bad faith negotiations of Venezuela” so that they are aware of the new developments relating to the Guyana Venezuela Border Controversy.
The recent action taken by the Venezuelan President, he said, is an annexation by law despite no attempts at physical annexation was made. This, Jagdeo added, has evoked concern and outrage from Guyana’s partners at the “untrustworthy nature” of the Venezuelan regime.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement notified 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.
“Guyana has always stood by the principles of the United Nations Charter, the rule of law and the peaceful settlement of disputes,” the statement posited.
It is as a result of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, to which Venezuela and Guyana are parties, that the International Court of Justice has ruled that it has jurisdiction to decide on the case brought before it by Guyana regarding the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which settled the land boundary between the two countries.
Guyana maintains that the Court’s decision will be final and binding on both parties. If Venezuela wants to contest title to the territory in question, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the proper forum is the International Court of Justice, which will decide the issue objectively and according to the law.
“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 action today,” the Ministry noted.
