Guyana will not allow its sovereignty, territory to be usurped – Foreign Ministry

…says Venezuela’s actions on Essequibo violate ICJ order, Argyle Declaration

The Guyana Government on Friday expressed grave concern over the adoption of a law by the Venezuelan National Assembly seeking to declare the Essequibo region of Guyana – more than two-thirds of its national territory – to be a constituent part of the Spanish-speaking nation.
“Guyana remains committed to peace on its borders and in the Region. 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,” the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry in Georgetown said in a statement on Friday.
According to the Ministry, this move by Venezuela is a 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 statement detailed.

On this note, “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.”
Prior to this missive from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn on Friday morning also called out Venezuela over its blatant violation of the Argyle Declaration – a pact which sought to maintain the region as a zone of peace. It was signed by President Dr Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, last year.
“We deplore [and] we are unhappy that the Government of Venezuela and its National Assembly just yesterday agreed that they will make Essequibo formally – no longer a zone in Reclamación (Zone in Reclamation) but Venezuelan territory. This is highly regrettable and it violates the principles of the good-faith discussions which were undertaken at Argyle and more laterally in Brazil,” Benn stated.
The Guyanese Home Affairs Minister, who is the outgoing Chairman of the Regional Security System Council, was at the time speaking at the RSS Council of Ministers’ Meeting being held in Georgetown on Friday.

Region’s commitment to peace
Meanwhile, St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Terrence Drew, who is taking over chairmanship of the RSS Council from Minister Benn, reiterated the Region’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.
“Caricom (Caribbean Community) really is putting all its efforts to make sure that we do not get to that point [of confrontation between the two countries]. So far, we have been successful… The Caricom continues to work with the situation to bring a peaceful resolution to it… We want to maintain this area as a zone of peace. That is our objective and we will continue to work towards that,” Dr Drew told reporters on the sidelines of the RSS meeting on Friday.

According to Benn, while Guyana looks forward to “reasonable, rational conversations and engagement” with the Spanish-speaking nation not only to maintain peace between the two countries but also within the region, Guyana is unequivocally committed to resolving the decades-old border controversy via judicial settlement.
Venezuela continues to lay claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, the Essequibo, and a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which almost 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered over the past nine years, and in which oil production activities are ongoing.
In 2018, Guyana moved to the ICJ after exhausting the good office process and other means of mediation with Venezuela. Guyana is seeking a final and binding ruling on the October 3, 1899 Arbitral Award to settle the border controversy.
Venezuela had challenged Guyana’s move to settle the matter, but the ICJ ruled in December 2020 that it has jurisdiction to entertain the application for a final settlement. Having rejected both of Venezuela’s preliminary objections, the ICJ has set April 8, 2024 as the time limit for the filing of a Counter-Memorial by Venezuela.
However, tensions between Guyana and Venezuela have been simmering since then and escalated when the Maduro Government held a referendum on December 3, 2023 with the aim of annexing Guyana’s Essequibo region.
Following the referendum, President Maduro  announced a series of actions, including issuing identification cards to Guyanese living in Essequibo and issuing licences for mining and other activities in Guyana’s Essequibo County.
Given Venezuela’s threatening posture, a Caricom/CELAC/Brazil-brokered historic meeting was held on December 14, 2023 between Presidents Ali and Maduro at the Argyle International Airport, St Vincent and the Grenadines, geared towards maintaining peace in the region.
The two South American leaders signed the Argyle Declaration, agreeing that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, would not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstance, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States, and controversies between the two States would be resolved by international law, including the Geneva Agreement, among other points.
Even as Guyana reaffirms its commitment to the judicial process before the ICJ, it was also agreed that a Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians of Guyana and Venezuela would be established and meet on behalf of the two Presidents in Brazil to continue dialogue.
That first meeting of the Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians was held on January 25 in Brasilia. Guyana’s delegation was led by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd, who described the meeting as a “good start” to creating a better future of good neighbourliness for the next generations. (G8)