As Venezuelan military vessel leaves Guyana, CARICOM says cease provocation, Norton, Ali meet

Last Updated on Saturday, 1 March 2025, 22:21 by Writer

As a Venezuelan military patrol was up to late Saturday leaving Guyana’s waters after entering the Stabroek Block where production and drill-ships were located, the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) urged the Nicolás Maduro administration to stop the provocation.

“What is required now, more than ever, is patience, calm and non-provocation, on both sides. As was contemplated in the Argyle Declaration, a resolution of this controversy, remains entirely possible without any acts of provocation or aggression,” CARICOM said in a statement.

The regional bloc also called on Venezuela to order the urgent removal of the vessel from Guyana’s waters and “further, to refrain from engaging with the FPSO platforms, as has been reported. ”

In fact, high-level Guyana government sources said the Venezuelan patrol vessel, ABF Guaiquerí PO-11 (IMO 4695542), departed the area of the Stabroek Block with the drill-ships and FPSOs at about 11 a.m. and headed in a westerly direction to Venezuela. President Irfaan Ali earlier Saturday said the military vessel arrived at about 7 a.m. and dispatched a radio message to the FPSO informing that it was in waters that are in dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.

President Ali also met with Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton to brief him about the situation. The President was accompanied by Secretary to the Defence Board, Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd. Mr Norton’s delegation included Ambassador Ronald Austin and Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Amanza Walton-Desir.

The Alliance For Change (AFC), for its part, issued a statement, condemning Venezuela’s military incursion into Guyana’s maritime space, and called 0n every Guyanese to support the government and the armed forces in defence of the nation. “The Alliance For Change condemns, in strongest possible terms, the barefaced show of force exhibited by Venezuela today, when its navy vessel entered Guyana’s territorial waters and brandished its lawlessness.

There is absolutely no doubt that the area where the Liza offshore well, and the supporting vessels and infrastructure lie, are well within Guyana’s territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone,” the AFC said.

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government reiterated the need for a negotiated settlement of the border dispute over the Essequibo Region. At the same time, the Maduro government denounced Guyana’s award of oil concessions in the Stabroek Block. It is unacceptable and constitutes a serious violation of international law that Guyana should have a territory over which there is a dispute and, worse still, a sea that has yet to be delimited, granting illegal concessions for the exploitation of energy resources while systematically evading its international obligations under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, the only legal mechanism governing the territorial dispute between the two nations,” the Venezuelan government said.

While the Geneva Agreement provides for the United Nations Secretary General to refer the controversy to the International Court of Justice for settlement of the dispute over the 1899 Land Boundary Award, Venezuela continues to interpret that agreement to mean that there must be a “negotiated, peaceful, practical and satisfactory solution for both Parties, as established by this binding instrument.”

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the defense of its historical and legal rights over the Essequibo Region, to the protection of its territorial integrity, and repudiates any attempt at intimidation or provocation against its Bolivarian National Armed Forces,” Caracas said.