All options on table if Venezuela violates ICJ order – VP Jagdeo

– points to military alliances, support of int’l community

With the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) recent ruling barring Venezuela from taking any action to seize Essequibo while the Court makes its decision about the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has warned that all options are on the table if Venezuela violates this order.
He made these comments while doing an interview with the Newsroom that was broadcast on Saturday, on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai. According to Jagdeo, Guyana will continue with its military alliances and will pursue every available avenue of defending itself should the need arise.
“If they do not respect that and they work or act in contravention of the ruling of the court and have aggressive intents on our country, then all options are on the table for the defence of our country. We’ve so far robustly explored the legal route and we’ve had success there. We have explored the diplomatic route and we’ve had overwhelming success there, where the world supports us.”
“And we’re now exploring defence cooperation with several countries. And we’re not a belligerent country. But if any country, particularly Venezuela, thinks they can alter the boundary established by the 1899 tribunal unilaterally, then we’d defend our country by any means whatsoever,” Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo further noted that even as Venezuela presses forward with its referendum, the international community is what matters and thus, Venezuela will have no choice but to respect the process, lest the international community come down on the Spanish-speaking country.
Last month, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council had published a list of five questions that it plans to put before the Venezuelan people in a referendum set for December 3, 2023. The referendum will seek the Venezuelan people’s approval to, among other things, annex Essequibo and create a Venezuelan state. It also seeks the citizens’ approval for Venezuela to grant citizenship and identity cards to residents of Essequibo.
In its ruling, the ICJ dealt with the fifth question of the referendum, which refers explicitly to “the creation of a Guayana Esequiba State, and for an accelerated plan to be developed for comprehensive attention to be paid to the present and future population of that territory, which would include, among other things, the granting of Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards in conformity with the Geneva Agreement and International Law, consequently incorporating said State on the Venezuelan map.”
The Court further observed that Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice (STJ) has confirmed the constitutionality of the questions to be posed in the referendum and that Venezuela has stated during the oral proceedings that it “will not turn its back on what the people decide in the referendum”. The STJ is known to be severely compromised by the Executive.
Additionally, the Court noted that, on October 24, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro publicly stated that the referendum “is the first time that all arguments: political, diplomatic, legal, historic, territorial, are given to our people so that we take a collective decision as a country.”
Other official statements suggest that Venezuela is taking steps to acquire control over and administer the territory in dispute. For instance, on November 6, 2023, the Minister of Defence of Venezuela, General Vladimir Padrino López, appealed to “go to combat” concerning the territory in question. Furthermore, Venezuelan military officials announced that Venezuela is taking concrete measures to build an airstrip to serve as a “logistical support point for the integral development of the Essequibo,” the Court outlined in its ruling.
Over the past few weeks, Guyana has been informing regional and international partners of Venezuela’s planned referendum, which has been criticised by the United States, Caricom, and the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as several other nations in the Region, including Brazil. And following the ruling, these international partners and more, have urged Venezuela to abide by the Court’s orders. (G-3)