A hand holds a pencil pointing to a Venezuelan map depicting the Essequibo territory in yellow, surrounded by multiple border lines drawn by the UK, next to a timeline of the territorial dispute. Photo: File photo.
This week marks the 57th anniversary of the Geneva Agreement signed in 1966 between Venezuela, the United Kingdom, and the then British colony of Guyana.
The government of Venezuela has “categorically” rejected a statement issued by Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the historic territorial dispute between the two countries over the Essequibo region, a border zone rich in natural resources, minerals, and oil fields.
On Friday, February 17, on the 57th anniversary of the Geneva Agreement signed in 1966 between Venezuela, the United Kingdom, and the then British colony of Guyana, Georgetown accused Caracas of trying to “undermine” the treaty and “thwart the resolution of the dispute through the courts” due to Venezuela’s “imperial ambitions.”
It also stressed that it adheres to the Geneva Agreement, which according to the statement “does not impose any obligation” on Guyana to refrain from conducting economic development activities in any part of its territory or annexed maritime areas. “Any unilateral attempt by Venezuela to restrict Georgetown’s exercise of its sovereignty and sovereign rights will be totally incompatible with the agreement and the rule of international law,” the statement reads.
Caracas’ response
The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that “it is surprising” that the Guyanese government “falsely” accuses Caracas of undermining said pact and “boldly claims that [the Geneva Agreement] does not prohibit acts of disposition, exploration, and active and arbitrary exploitation of the territory.” Caracas argues that these acts “excessively overstep any formula for management respectful of the reality of a contentious territory.”
Jurisdiction over the Essequibo region, a border territory of approximately 160,000 square kilometers with an abundance of natural resources, has been disputed since the 19th century. The Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, written without the presence or input of the then Venezuelan government, ruled in favor of the United Kingdom and stripped Venezuela of the region that had belonged to it since 1777.
#Comunicado | Venezuela rechaza comunicado de Guyana sobre el Acuerdo de Ginebra que discrepa del Derecho Internacional (+Detalles) 👇https://t.co/9581TOO2Bp#CarnavalesSeguros2023 pic.twitter.com/4O0GcSXxrT
— Cancillería Venezuela 🇻🇪 (@CancilleriaVE) February 18, 2023
After the Mallet-Prevost memorandum scandal, Caracas appealed the ruling before the UN which in 1966 declared the ruling “null and void,” leading the involved parties to sign the Geneva Agreement through which they promised to find a joint solution to the territorial dispute. However, Guyana has refused to accept any decision other than the outdated 1899 Arbitral Award.
Guyana’s recent “dreams of establishing an independent state”
In 2018, the Guyanese government filed a lawsuit against Venezuela to resolve the dispute before the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which claimed its jurisdiction over analyzing the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award. Caracas, citing lines of the Geneva Agreement, maintains that this court does not have jurisdiction in this case, since the agreement stipulated that involved parties must resolve the dispute through a mutual decision.
“Guyana is well aware that its dreams of establishing an independent state were born only as recently as 1966, while Venezuela, on the other hand, has had indisputable historical and legal titles that prove its claim to the Essequibo territory” since much earlier, recalled the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
Venezuela Condemns US Interference in Essequibo Territory Dispute with Guyana
“The sole objective of the British empire was to strip Venezuela of its territory in order to steal and plunder its resources,” Venezuela’s statement reads, referring to the 1899 Arbitral Award. In addition, it denounces Georgetown’s “unilateral attempts to distance itself from the Geneva Agreement with a legal interpretation created and financed by transnational oil companies,” against which it urges Guyana to “seriously” implement its own international responsibilities.
The unofficial translation of the statement is provided below:
Venezuela rejects Guyana’s Geneva Agreement statement that contradicts international law
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the statement issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, within the context of the commemoration of the 57th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Agreement. In the statement, Guyana issues edicts against the agreement in an act that should be restricted to the rule and duties of international law.
Guyana is well aware that its dreams of establishing an independent state were born only as recently as 1966, while Venezuela, on the other hand, has had indisputable historical and legal titles that prove its claim to the Essequibo territory since even before its formation as a free, sovereign, and independent republic in 1810.
In 1899, the sole objective of the British empire was to strip Venezuela of its territory, to rob it, and to plunder its resources through the 1899 Arbitral Awards, and this fraudulent decision is precisely what gave rise to the Geneva Agreement, conducted to amicably resolve the territorial dispute.
It is surprising that the Cooperative Republic of Guyana falsely accuses Venezuela of undermining the Geneva Agreement and boldly claims that the agreement does not prohibit acts of disposition, exploration, and active and arbitrary exploitation of the territory. However, these acts excessively overstep any formula for management respectful of the reality of a contentious territory.
It is worrying that this line of conduct has led to the deplorable and protested “handover” of vast spaces of jungle, water, forest, and planetary oxygen reserves and voracious gold extraction, along with transnational corporations’ decades of extraction of many other resources that have in no way benefitted the social and cultural development of the beloved people of Guyana.
It is precisely Guyana that has unilaterally tried to distance itself from the Geneva Agreement with a legal interpretation created and financed by transnational oil companies, thus ignoring its international responsibilities derived from an International Agreement signed and registered with the United Nations, calling for a friendly resolution to the territorial controversy that Venezuela has always hoped to be fulfilled.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the exercise of the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, demands that the Cooperative Republic of Guyana assume its international responsibilities seriously, sensibly, and diplomatically, since the practical and satisfactory solution to the territorial dispute will depend on its conduct as mandated by the Geneva Agreement.
Caracas, February 18, 2023
(RT) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/KZ
