Mural in a Caracas street showing the map of Venezuela with the Essequibo region and the slogan of the December 3 referendum: "Vote Yes 5 times." Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP.
The Venezuelan Ministry for Foreign Affairs issued a statement delcaring that “The Essequibo is and will be an indisputable part of Venezuelan territorial integrity.” In the context of the 59th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Agreement, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has reiterated its call to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resume negotiations on the territorial dispute over the Essequibo Region.
The agreement, signed on February 17, 1966, was an international treaty aimed at resolving the border dispute between Venezuela and what was then British Guiana under the United Nations conflict resolution methodology and the basis of mutual agreement. This agreement was ratified by Guyana in the Port Spain protocol signed in 1970.
Venezuela has condemned repeated violations of the agreement by the Guyanese government, accusing it of allowing the illegal exploitation of resources such as oil, gold, and other precious minerals in the disputed territory, along with the unilateral decision of submitting the dispute to the International Court of Justice.
According to the official statement, these actions benefit transnational corporations such as ExxonMobil and jeopardize the peace and stability of the region.
The statement also highlighted the presence of United States Southern Command military bases in the Essequibo territory, which is seen as a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty and peace in the region.
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The statement adds that the struggle for Essequibo recovery remains an unwavering cause for the Venezuelan people.
In a mandatory consultative referendum held on December 3, 2023, the Venezuelan people expressed their almost unanimous support for the Geneva Agreement, reaffirming the importance of this treaty as the only way to resolve the territorial dispute.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Yván Gil also discussed the signing of the Geneva Agreement 59 years ago, “a treaty signed between Venezuela and Guyana after the latter’s independence from the United Kingdom.”
“This diplomatic agreement established a framework for dialogue and negotiation regarding the Essequibo territory. Through the Geneva Agreement, both nations committed to leaving behind the colonial legacy of the Paris Arbitration Award, seeking to resolve the territorial controversy in a sovereign and peaceful manner,” Gil highlighted on his Instagram account along with images of the treaty.
The Venezuelan government has urged Guyana to sit down to negotiate immediately and without delay, emphasizing that Venezuela’s historic rights over the Essequibo territory are inalienable. “The Geneva Agreement is the only established and agreed upon way between the parties to resolve this territorial dispute,” the statement concluded.
For his part, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, also recalled that 59 years ago, the Geneva Agreement was signed, “a treaty signed between Venezuela and Guyana after the latter’s independence from the United Kingdom.”
“This diplomatic agreement established a framework for dialogue and negotiation regarding the Essequibo territory. Through the Geneva Agreement, both nations committed to leaving behind the colonial legacy of the 1899 Paris Arbitration Award, seeking to resolve the territorial controversy in a sovereign and peaceful manner,” he highlighted on his Instagram account along with images of the Geneva Agreement.
The full unofficial translation of the statement is below:
Fifty-nine years after the signing of the Geneva Agreement, Guyana is obliged to sit down and negotiate immediately.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela commemorates, with a profound sense of unity and sovereignty, the 59th anniversary of the signing of the “Agreement to Resolve the Dispute between Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the Border between Venezuela and British Guiana,” signed on February 17, 1966, and known as the Geneva Agreement.
This international treaty, duly deposited with the United Nations, laid to rest the discussion on the validity or invalidity of the Arbitration Award of 1899 and established the obligation of the parties to put an end to the territorial controversy in relation to the Essequibo territory through a practical and mutually acceptable arrangement.
Fifty-nine years after its signing, Venezuela reaffirms the full validity of the Geneva Agreement. It condemns the constant and systematic violations by the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, which has attempted to ignore its commitments and unilaterally dispose of a territory that does not belong to it, allowing the abusive, illicit, and illegitimate exploitation of oil, gold, and other precious minerals present in the disputed territory to benefit ExxonMobil and other large energy transnationals, with the formal and official protest of Venezuela.
Likewise, the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana persists in its stubborn interest of risking the tranquility and peace of the Latin American and Caribbean region in open complicity with factors external to this controversy, including the installation of United States Southern Command military bases in the Essequibo territory.
Venezuela will not give in to any maneuver that seeks to deprive it of the historic rights bequeathed by its Liberators after the independence struggle. The Guayana Esequiba is and will be an indisputable part of Venezuelan territorial integrity. The fight for its recovery remains an unwavering cause of the people, who expressed their almost unanimous support for the Geneva Agreement in the consultative referendum of December 3, 2023.
Fifty-nine years after the signing and validity of the Geneva Agreement, Guyana is obliged to sit down to negotiate immediately, without further delay. Venezuela’s historical rights and ownership of the Essequibo are irrefutable and non-negotiable. The Geneva Agreement is the only established and agreed-upon way for the parties to resolve this territorial dispute.
The sun of Venezuela rises in the Essequibo!
Caracas, February 17, 2025
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
