Guyana appeals for international help after Venezuela passes law to incorporate Essequibo

Last Updated on Friday, 22 March 2024, 14:14 by Denis Chabrol

Guyana on  Friday sounded a strong public appeal for international help to pressure Venezuela to use the World Court to settle the territorial dispute over the Essequibo Region, a day after that Spanish-speaking nation’s National Assembly passed a law declaring Essequibo part of its territory.

“Guyana calls on the international community to uphold the rule of law by rejecting Venezuela’s illegal expansionism and by insisting that Venezuela revert to the international Court of Justice which has before it the case for a full and final resolution of the controversy over the land border between the two countries,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Guyana says it remains committed to peace on its borders and in the region. At the same time , it vowed that “It will not allow its sovereignty and territorial territory to be usurped. Guyana will exert all of its efforts under international law to ensure that its sovereignty and territorial integrity remain intact.”

Expressing grave concern about the National Assembly’s approval of the law, Guyana said the move to declare the Essequibo region of Guyana, which constitutes more than two thirds of its national territory, to be a constituent part of Venezuela violates international law and breaches the Argyle Declaration by President Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro in St Vincent.

“This is in flagrant violation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is in breach of the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

It is also an egregious violation of the Order on provisional measures issued by the international Court of Justice on December 1, 2023 and it is a violation of the Argyle Declaration of December 14, 2023 agreed to by the leaders of CARICOM and Brazil, the representative of the United Nations Secretary General and by the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela,” the Foreign Ministry added.

Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn earlier Friday told the opening of a conference of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Security System that Guyana deplores the avoidance of the Argyle Declaration between the two leaders last December in St Vincent that they would do nothing to make the situation worse.

“We deplore and we are unhappy that the Government of Venezuela and its National Assembly just yesterday agreed that they would make Essequibo firmly, no longer a Zona de Reclamacion but Venezuelan territory. This is highly regrettable and it is a violation of the principles of the good faith discussions which were undertaken at Argyle and more latterly in Brazil,” he said.

Venezuela does not recognise the ICJ and has been using its interpretation of the Geneva Agreement to pressure Guyana into returning to a bilateral settlement of the controversy over the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal that settled the land boundary between the two countries.

Reuters news agency on Thursday reported that 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.

Reuters  said government members of the Venezuelan National Assembly approved the declaration of Essequibo as a State in line with last December’s controversial referendum.

The law approving the new state, called Guayana Esequiba, will 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.

Venezuela has in recent years revived its claim to the territory and to offshore areas after major oil and gas discoveries and amid internal political upheaval ahead of elections expected this year.