Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US. September 23, 2023.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil warned this Saturday that the United States Southern Command is trying to create a military base in the Essequibo territory, which is being claimed in order to consolidate “the plundering of our energy resources.” This was stated during the plenary of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, where he highlighted that the government of the United States “has once again intervened in a territorial dispute that has been ongoing for more than 200 years over our territory of the Essequibo Guyana.”
He said that through ExxonMobil, “the government of the United States of America wants to appropriate our oil resources.”
He pointed out that ExxonMobil has incorporated the government of Guyana into its payroll, which is granting oil concessions in an undemarcated territorial sea, which is “in total violation of international law.”
Unilateral coercive measures
The Venezuelan foreign minister condemned the unilateral coercive measures in violation of international law and reiterated Venezuela’s support of different countries in their just claim for the inalienable right to self-determination and the realization of their legitimate national aspirations.
The foreign minister made clear before the multilateral organization that: “It is not possible to dispose of a disputed territory unilaterally, but the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana persists in its illegal conduct.”
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Venezuela supports conference for Peace in Ukraine and Palestine
The minister pointed out that Venezuela supports the proposal of Colombian President Gustavo Petro to convene a world conference for peace in Ukraine and Palestine.
He called for a balanced and cautious approach to reduce tensions and promote confidence-building measures, not only in the Eastern European region, but also in the Korean Peninsula and Western Asia, which he said would create an environment conducive to the success of diplomatic efforts for peace.
The foreign minister ratified that Venezuela is committed to the Declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, stressing that his country is actively participating in the reconciliation process in the Republic of Colombia, with the conviction that the achievement of total peace in the neighboring nation will result in the consolidation of regional peace.
The United Nations has not achieved its purpose
The chancellor assured that the UN “has not been able to fulfill its founding purpose and now we face much more serious challenges.” Gil recalled that the organization was created as a space to “build stability and global cooperation on the pillars of peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.”
In this regard, he said that “the UN has not succeeded in defeating the unilateralism of countries that, reproducing colonial and imperial logics, seek to impose themselves over the principles enshrined in the founding charter of this organization.”
The chancellor questioned how many of the agencies, programs and funds of the United Nations system do not fulfill their mandate and end up being instrumentalized by the interests of the United States of America and its accomplices. For this reason, he considered it opportune to “re-found the organization to make it a democratic institution, where all its members have a voice and participate in decision-making on an equal footing.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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