GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Venezuela has called on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping to “promote and facilitate a direct dialogue between the parties” as the National Assembly here has set a date for debate on the ongoing border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, in a letter sent to all 65 legislators, said the National Assembly would be meeting on November 3, at 10.00 (local time) “to consider a motion on the Guyana/Venezuela border issue.”
Guyana has already denounced the planned December 3, 2023 referendum in Venezuela that asks Venezuelans to formally approve, disregarding the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in settling the territorial controversy and demanding that the two countries do so bilaterally.
But Georgetown is also upset at a question in the referendum that seeks Venezuelans’ support for declaring Guyana’s county of Essequibo a state of Venezuela and granting citizenship and identification cards to everyone living there.
In its statement, Caracas said that the position of CARICOM “must be to promote and facilitate a direct dialogue between the parties, which will return Guyana to the path of respect for Public International Law, by promoting a peaceful and diplomatic route to address the territorial controversy.”
In a statement on Wednesday, CARICOM said the referendum proposed by Venezuela in December has no validity as the border dispute between the two countries took on a new twist this week.
“The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) notes the decision of the Venezuelan National Assembly to conduct a popular referendum on defending Venezuela’s claim of the Essequibo,” the 15-member regional grouping said in a statement.
“CARICOM further notes that two of the questions approved to be posed in the Referendum, if answered in the affirmative, would authorize the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to embark on the annexation of territory, which constitutes part of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and to create a state within Venezuela known as Guyana Essequibo.”
CARICOM said it wanted to reaffirm that “international law strictly prohibits the government of one State from unilaterally seizing, annexing or incorporating the territory of another state.
“An affirmative vote as aforesaid opens the door to the possible violation of this fundamental tenet of international law,” it added.
Venezuela had on Tuesday said it rejected the “offensive statements” made by the Guyana government regarding the upcoming consultative referendum on the Essequibo, which the South American country continues to claim as part of its territory.
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the infamous and offensive statements of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, regarding the consultative referendum scheduled for December 3, 2023, which are loaded with deep contempt for the people Venezuelan, its Bolivarian history and its right to express itself, democratically, in matters of special national importance,” Caracas said in the statement.
Earlier, Georgetown said it was concerned that Venezuela’s referendum could lay the groundwork for annexing the county of Essequibo, which Caracas has been claiming belongs to it.
Guyana said it had taken “careful note” of the issuance by the National Electoral Council of Venezuela of five questions to be asked in the national referendum.
It said among other questions, all of which are intended to further Venezuela’s “unlawful and unfounded claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s national territory, question five is the most pernicious.
Guyana instituted proceedings against Venezuela by Application to the ICJ on March 29, 2018, asking the Court to resolve the controversy that has arisen as a result of Venezuela’s contention, formally asserted for the first time in 1962, that the 1899 Arbitral Award Regarding the Boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela is “null and void.”
Georgetown said it remains firmly of the view that the Arbitral Award of 1899 is valid, is committed to a path of final and peaceful settlement, and will continue to adhere to the rule of International Law and the procedures of the ICJ.
But in its latest statement, Caracas reiterated that it had no faith in the ICJ.
“Venezuela’s historical position for several decades has been that the International Court of Justice will never reach an equitable solution, as contemplated in the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which makes it the only valid instrument to achieve a solution,” according to a translated version of Venezuela’s statement.
Venezuela restated its accusation that Guyana has violated the 1966 Geneva Agreement by engaging in commercial activities in the territorial sea contiguous to Essequibo County. However, the maritime boundary has not yet been delimited, “a practice that without place undoubtedly constitutes a violation of international law.”
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