LONDON, CMC – The Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana (CMGG) Monday called for a de-escalation of the tensions between Venezuela and Guyana as well as respect for international law, as the tensions continue over the ownership of the Essequibo county in Guyana being claimed by the South American country.
In a statement, the CMGG, comprising the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, also called for the rejection of the use or threats of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Guyana.
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro are scheduled to meet on Thursday in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Still, Georgetown has already made it clear that the issue of ownership of the Essequibo would not be a matter for discussion, insisting that it is to be dealt with by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is expected to give a ruling on the matter.
The CMGG meeting was called at Guyana’s request by the mandate given by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1999 to monitor “further developments in respect of the existing controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.”
The meeting received an update from Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, and Guyana’s High Commissioner, Rajendra Singh, presented that to Britain.
In its statement, the CMGG “urged full and proper respect for the binding 1 December 2023 Order of Provisional Measures of the ICJ that states that “pending a final decision in the case, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute.”
The ICJ also urged both countries to “ refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.”
The CMGG “rejected the recent actions of Venezuela that constitute a threat to Guyana’s sovereignty and a disregard of the 1 December 2023 Order of the ICJ,” reiterating “its firm and steadfast support for the ICJ process underway as the appropriate and lawful means to address the matter under international law.”
It said that such a process would also ensure “the maintenance and preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana, its right to self-defense and the unobstructed exercise of its rights to develop the entirety of its territory for the benefit of its people.
“The Group reaffirms that the position of the Commonwealth since the Group was formed in 1999 has remained unchanged, and is as expressed in 2016, “ reiterating “the unequivocal and collective support of Commonwealth member governments for the maintenance and preservation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial borders, by the 1899 Arbitral Award, which definitively settled the land boundary between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Venezuela”.
The CMGG also endorsed “without reservation” the statements made by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, in support of Guyana in November and December.
“The Group commended the Good Offices of the Secretary-General on behalf of the Commonwealth to engage its partners to support peace and stability in the Caribbean region and encouraged the Secretary-General to continue to use her Good Offices to support Guyana in upholding its territorial sovereignty and integrity.”
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