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The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez (center), accompanied by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil (left) and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López (right), speaks about the ICJ ruling on the Essequibo dispute, April 6, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@TVFANB.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced that the fraud committed by the United Kingdom through the Paris Arbitration Award of 1899, by which it stole the Essequibo territory from Venezuela, may go under review. The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, welcomed this decision and read a statement by the Venezuelan government ratifying its adherence to the Geneva Agreement signed in 1966 to settle Venezuela’s territorial dispute regarding the Essequibo region.
“Venezuela celebrates that the Court’s incidental sentence today validates our arguments: firstly, by recognizing that the illicit and fraudulent conduct of the United Kingdom of Great Britain can be reviewed, and secondly, because it makes clear the existence and validity of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, the only valid mechanism to settle this territorial dispute,” stated the communiqué issued on Thursday, April 6.
Vice President Rodríguez stressed that Venezuela “does not consider the judicial mechanism as a means of settling the aforementioned dispute because it excludes the nature and purpose of the Geneva Agreement.”
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will thoroughly evaluate the implications [of the ICJ ruling] and will adopt all the means at its disposal to defend its legitimate rights and territorial integrity,” she stated.
She reiterated that the Geneva Agreement “is the only valid and effective mechanism to solve the dispute over the Essequibo territory, through political negotiations for the sake of a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties.”
International Court of Justice: Essequibo Dispute Can Be Resolved Without UK
Finally, she called for national unity “in defense of the historical and territorial legacy of our Father Liberator Simón Bolívar and in compliance with the constitutional values of peace, integrity, and sovereignty with the highest respect for international law.”
Unofficial translation of the full text of the communiqué is presented below:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has taken note of the incidental decision, of historical significance, issued by the International Court of Justice today, regarding the preliminary objections presented by our country against the unilateral claim of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on the validity of the Arbitration Award of October 3, 1899.
For the first time in its history, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela took recourse to the International Court of Justice in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity over the Essequibo region. In June and November 2022, Venezuela demonstrated with rigorous, convincing, and abundant documentation the fraudulent mechanisms used by the United Kingdom of Great Britain to steal this territory from Venezuela.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain was the State that since 1840 forged maps and built a stratagem to perpetrate the fraudulent arbitration committed against Venezuela in Paris in 1899. It was the United Kingdom that finally signed and committed itself to the Geneva Agreement in 1966 to find a practical and mutually satisfactory solution to the territorial dispute.
Venezuela Rejects Guyana’s Accusations of ‘Venezuelan Imperialism’ Regarding Essequibo Dispute
Venezuela is pleased that the Court’s incidental judgment today validates our arguments: firstly, by recognizing that the unlawful and fraudulent conduct of the United Kingdom of Great Britain can be reviewed, and secondly, because it makes clear the existence and validity of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, the only valid mechanism to settle this territorial dispute. It is worth noting that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela does not recognize the judicial mechanism as a means of resolving the aforementioned dispute because it excludes the nature and purpose of this agreement.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will thoroughly evaluate its implications and will adopt all the means at its disposal for the defense of its legitimate rights and territorial integrity.
Venezuela reminds and reiterates to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana that the Geneva Agreement of 1966 is the only valid mechanism in force to resolve the dispute over the Essequibo territory, through political negotiations for the sake of a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties.
The Bolivarian government of Venezuela calls upon the Venezuelan people for national unity in defense of the historical and territorial legacy of our Liberator Father Simón Bolívar and in compliance with the constitutional values of peace, integrity, and sovereignty, with the highest respect for international law.
The Sun of Venezuela rises in the Essequibo!
“God grants victory to the constant” – Simón Bolívar.
Caracas, April 6, 2023
(Últimas Noticias) by Jesús Inojosa
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/KZ
