KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – President Dr. Irfaan Ali, Thursday, reiterated Guyana’s position regarding the ownership of the Essequibo region that Venezuela claims.
A Guyana government statement said Ali outlined the position to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders here to participate in the talks between Ali and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The talks are being facilitated by the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
According to the statement, Ali briefed his regional colleagues, including CARICOM chairman and Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and her counterparts from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and St. Lucia.
“President Ali met with several CARICOM heads where he made a presentation reiterating our fundamental position in accepting the invitation to participate in the engagement, i.e., that the border controversy with which the International Court of Justice is not up for discussion, negotiation or deliberation.
“Guyana’s position is and will remain that the controversy must be resolved at and by the ICJ. President Ali reminded CARICOM that the referral of this matter to the ICJ is consistent with and under the Geneva Agreement,” the statement said.
It said that President Ali further reiterated “emphatically that Guyana’s only intention is to pursue a course that will secure and ensure peace and stability in our region and respect for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“President Ali also noted the consistency of CARICOM’s position that all parties must abide by International Law, respect the outcome of the ICJ process, and desist from the threat/ or use of force.”
Ali clarified to CARICOM leaders “that matters consequential have nothing to do with the ICJ case or matters connected in addition to that.”
The statement said that during the second phase of the deliberations here, “President Ali and President Maduro will meet across the table with CARICOM, CELAC, Brazil, and UN observers.”
Last Sunday, Venezuela staged a referendum in which it said 95 percent of the votes cast supported the annexation of the Essequibo region. President Maduro soon announced that foreign companies working in Essequibo would have to withdraw within three months.
He said he was also proposing a special law to prohibit all companies that work under Guyana concessions from any transaction and that Caracas would create a military unit for the disputed territory but that it would be based in a neighboring Venezuelan state.
Before the referendum, the ICJ ruled that Venezuela must not take any action to seize Essequibo, which Guyana has administered for over a century.
In its ruling, the Court said, “both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more challenging to resolve.
“The court emphasizes that the question of the validity of the 1899 Award and the related question of the definitive settlement of the land boundary dispute between Guyana and Venezuela are matters for the court to decide at the merits stage,” it added.
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