ExxonMobil research vessel Ramform Tethys. Photo: PGS/File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela has expressed its condemnation of the recent announcement by Guyana regarding the start of a three-dimensional seismic exploration campaign in undelimited waters claimed by Venezuela.
According to the statement published this Wednesday, March 11, these activities are intended to be carried out in maritime areas that Georgetown is unilaterally trying to present as part of its supposed “exclusive economic zone,” despite these being waters pending delimitation between both nations.
Venezuela emphatically demanded that the Guyanese government refrain from any actions that violate the principles of international law. The statement underscores the 1966 Geneva Agreement’s prohibition on adopting measures that could create or exacerbate differences, urging Guyana not to deviate from the international legal framework or existing governing agreements.
Since 2018, the US empire’s oil giant ExxonMobil—a sworn foe of Chavista Venezuela as labeled by analysts—has conducted illegal survey operations in undelimited waters. Over the years, it has faced warnings from the Venezuelan military demanding the cessation of those illegal operations.
In December 2018, ExxonMobil reported that a research vessel, the Ramform Tethys, was intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy. The vessel was owned by the Norwegian seismic services provider PGS. Similar incidents have been repeated over the years as Venezuela reaffirms its historical stance of defending its territory and maritime sovereignty.
The communiqué clearly warns that the nation does not and will not recognize any concession, license, or activity for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources unilaterally granted to international corporations by Guyana in the disputed areas.
These new unilateral and threatening actions by Guyana are part of the long-standing territorial dispute over the Essequibo territory, where Venezuela reaffirms the full validity of the 1966 Geneva Agreement and rejects the unilateral and unlawful decision of Guyana to take the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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The Geneva Agreement, recognized by the UN and Guyana, is the only valid legal framework for achieving a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties. It invalidates the 1899 Paris Arbitration Award, which Caracas denounces as a colonialist fraud intended to deprive the country of its sovereign territory. In its preamble, the agreement explicitly prohibits unilateral actions by the signatory parties.
Guyana’s announcement also represents a flagrant violation of the Argyle Declaration, signed in December 2023 by Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Irfaan Ali in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In that agreement, both nations formally committed to maintaining the region as a zone of peace and to refrain from any action, whether verbal or physical, that could escalate the conflict in the maritime and land areas pending delimitation.
Below, you can read the full unofficial translation of the Venezuelan communiqué:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the announcement made by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana regarding the start of a three-dimensional seismic exploration campaign in maritime areas that the country intends to present unilaterally as part of its alleged “exclusive economic zone.”
Guyana again reiterates its intention to carry out unilateral exploration activities over part of the maritime spaces that are pending delimitation, in open contravention of fundamental principles of international law.
Venezuela demands that the Government of Guyana refrain from carrying out unilateral acts that may harm principles of customary law that govern the international relations of coastal countries and, in particular, those that prohibit states from adopting measures that may create or aggravate differences and depart from the framework of international law, as well as from compliance with agreements and guiding principles.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterates that it does not recognize and will not recognize any concession, license, or activity of exploration or exploitation of natural resources in undelimited maritime areas that have been unilaterally granted by Guyana, nor the rights that third parties claim to derive from such illegal acts.
Caracas, March 11, 2026.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/AU
