GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Opposition legislators staged a peaceful walkout of the National Assembly on Friday after accusing the Irfaan Ali government of not including them in a motion to discuss the ongoing border dispute with Venezuela.
As the opposition legislators left the chamber, members of the government benches responded with shouts of “shame.” Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Hugh Todd tabled the motion denouncing Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo.
It sought to “unequivocally reaffirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, and indissolubility of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” building upon a similar motion passed in Parliament on November 6, 2023, which had the full support of the then Opposition.
The resolve clause of the current motion reiterated Guyana’s recognition of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the 1966 Geneva Agreement. It also condemned Venezuela’s actions in defiance of the May 1, 2025 order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), describing them as violations of international law and threats to regional peace and stability.
Todd told legislators that the motion is a necessary reaffirmation of Guyana’s sovereignty. It chronicles decades of Venezuela’s transgressions against Guyana’s commitment to diplomatic engagements and international law during the same period.
He told legislators that Guyana clearly recognizes the Essequibo as its own and is working alongside international partners to guarantee peace and stability in the region.
“It is important for Venezuela to understand that Guyana will not be bullied, threatened, or intimidated to surrender any portion of our patrimony,” Todd stated.
However, opposition leader Aubrey Norton dismissed the government’s appeal for bipartisan support as “selective,” urging that the motion be withdrawn and resubmitted with opposition input.
“You need to instill hope in the people of Guyana. Nothing that has been said today instills hope. You come over as a hopeless bunch, depending on the ICJ. We support the ICJ move, but we know that Venezuela doesn’t honor agreements.
“You should have already outlined your strategy for what Guyanese must do after the pronouncement. But you come like a descriptive historian relating dates but cannot tell us anything about the substance. I would recommend to the government that we withdraw this motion and let us work together on a joint motion,” Norton said.
The Opposition Leader was also critical of the government’s lack of consultation with the Opposition, telling legislators that while there is support for ICJ proceedings, the government had failed to outline contingency measures in the event of Venezuelan encroachment.
“We have ideas probably more than the government, but you choose to exclude us to your peril. On this issue, unilateralism will not succeed. Venezuela is an adversary whom we must confront together, and, unfortunately, this government refuses to do that,” Norton said.
He also criticized the government’s lack of a defined foreign policy to build international support for Guyana’s claim to the Essequibo region. This oil-rich region makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.
Venezuela has announced plans to stage elections for the Essequibo region, even as the ICJ unanimously reaffirmed provisional measures granted in December 2023 and told the Spanish-speaking country that it should refrain from conducting or preparing to conduct the elections.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips said Venezuela’s sham elections for a state in the Essequibo region are unlawful, as no such state exists.
“To elect a governor for Guayana Esequiba is unlawful because the state, Guayana Esequiba, does not exist. There is no such state in Guyana. Venezuela has not demonstrated or exercised any political or legal control or jurisdiction over such a state since it does not exist in Guyana.
“… Instead, we [Guyanese] have elected officials at the Regional Democratic Council level that exercise political and legal control over the entire Essequibo in the 10 administrative regions and those regions that share the part of Guyana that comprises Guyana,” he added.
Norton said, “One would have expected that the government would have outlined a clear foreign policy approach to ensure we continuously mobilize the support of those countries. We cannot ignore the significance of the support of 54 African countries. ”
“When I listened to the Minister, I thought the International Court of Justice was running Guyana. Everything that he said is what the Court will do, but he has said nothing about what the government will do. That is the biggest limitation of this motion.”
Norton said the government failed to launch a permanent public education campaign. He reiterated the Opposition’s call for establishing a commission on the territorial controversy, a proposal the government has repeatedly rejected.
“They agreed that the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs can serve the same purpose, and we stated at the time that the committee was not meeting. The government promised to meet to discuss foreign policy issues, including the Guyana-Venezuela territorial controversy. It met once and never again.
“As a government, you manifest no interest in working with the Opposition, and now we are compelled to reciprocate. You cannot choose not to work with us, but you can selectively decide when you want to. I hope you enjoy the reciprocation,” Norton said, even as he expressed confidence in a favorable outcome at the ICJ.
“In preparation for the previous motion on the Guyana-Venezuela territorial controversy, the government consulted with us, and we arrived at a joint motion that enjoyed the support of both parties.
“Today, you chose a different path. This time around, there was no consultation. We are therefore not obligated to support this motion since it is you, the government, that has breached our trust and operated arbitrarily,” the Opposition Leader said, listing specific proposals made by the Opposition that the government ignored, including deploying special envoys to Latin America and the Caribbean, publishing full-page Spanish-language advertisements in major regional newspapers, and launching a targeted social media campaign.
“You believe in parachute diplomacy. Touch them at the conference and get support. You need to do more than that. We cannot support this innocuous motion in its present form. We urge you to return to the table and let us work on a motion that all Guyanese will be happy with. For that reason, this is the furthest we will go in this presentation.”
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