Raphael Trotman, former minister for Natural Resources of Guyana. File photo.
The former minister of Natural Resources of Guyana, Raphael Trotman, has revealed that the US oil giant ExxonMobil has paid Guyana’s legal expenses for its case against Venezuela at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the disputed Essequibo territory.
On Friday, November 17, Trotman said to Guyanese media that the government of his country “accepted funds from ExxonMobil to help protect the territorial sovereignty of the country.”
Trotman stated that a large sum of money granted by ExxonMobil to Guyana is destined to pay “legal and associated” fees for the ongoing ICJ case.
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Venezuelan Minister of Communes and Social Movements Jorge Arreaza condemned the revelations in a social media post.
“Whoever has eyes should read [this]: Former Guyanese official admits and confesses to media that, indeed, the company ExxonMobil has financed the expenses of Guyana’s legal team at the International Court of Justice,” Arreaza wrote in his post.
El/La que tenga ojos que lea: ex funcionarios de #Guyana aceptan y confiesan en sus medios que, efectivamente, la empresa @exxonmobil ha financiado los gastos del equipo jurídico de #Guyana en la Corte Internacional de Justicia. La transnacional petrolera estadounidense está al… pic.twitter.com/jmKYNewSrE
— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) November 17, 2023
He further added that the US oil giant is at the forefront of Guyana’s new intent to dispossess Venezuela of the Essequibo territory.
Arreaza decried that both Guyana and ExxonMobil are after the oil and natural resources of the disputed region. “They intend to dispossess us of our resources through judicial fraud,” he said.
In light of the situation, Arreaza, who is also vice-president of the ruling party PSUV, urged Venezuelans to vote on December 3 in the consultative referendum on Essequibo, to “put a stop to the ambitions of ExxonMobil, so that Guyana returns to direct negotiations with Venezuela [to resolve the territorial dispute], in accordance with the Geneva Agreement.”
(RedRadioVE) by Milena Bravo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
