— Foreign Affairs Minister affirms

THE Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana will not be intimidated by the heightened hostility of the Venezuelan Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told its Venezuelan counterpart in its second correspondence since the interception of a seismic research vessel by Venezuela’s Navy in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone on December 22, 2018.

On December 24, 2018, the Ministry of People’s Power of External Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela issued a formal protest note, and in its response on Friday, December 28, 2018, the Foreign Affairs Ministry made it clear that no amount of hostility by the Spanish-speaking nation will deter Guyana from pursuing its economic development agenda.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds the Ministry of People’s Power of External Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that the Stabroek Block is an area over which Guyana maintains sovereign rights, located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Guyana. Companies with concessions licensed by the Government of Guyana in this area will continue to implement their scheduled programmes of activity,” the ministry led by Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge said in the diplomatic note.

It was explained that the vessels – the Ramfor Tethys flagged by the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Delta Monarch flagged by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which were contracted by U.S oil giant ExxonMobil, were operating well within Guyana’s EEZ. It was noted that the Delta Monarch is not a seismic research vessel.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to protest in the strongest terms and convey the complete rejection by the Government of Guyana of the continued hostility and aggression by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to impede Guyana’s peaceful exercise of sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone,” it stated.

MANIFEST VIOLATION
The ministry stated that the recent incursion by Venezuela’s navy is a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations, and international law, which require all states to settle their disputes peacefully and not by use or threat of force.
The Geneva Agreement of 1966, which Venezuela has recognised as valid and binding, requires all parties involved to settle their territorial and related maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with its provisions.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry also reminded Venezuela that pursuant to Article IV (2) of the Geneva Agreement and the binding decision of the United Nations Secretary-General on January 30, 2018 to choose the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the means of settlement of the controversy, it is under an obligation to settle the controversy before the Court and not through threats.

Venezuela is contending that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which permanently fixed the border between English and Spanish speaking nations, is “null and void.
Guyana has fully complied with Article IV (2) of the Geneva Agreement and the decision of the Secretary Genera. On March 29, 2018 it submitted its application to the ICJ.

“Although Guyana thoroughly rejects what it regards as wholly baseless, Venezuela’s claims that the 1899 Arbitral Award is null and void, and that the Bolivarian Republic enjoys sovereignty over the so-called “Guyana Essequiba” and adjacent maritime areas, it fulfilled its duty under the Geneva Agreement and international law to resolve the controversy peacefully and in the prescribed manner, and condemns Venezuela’s disregard of its legal obligations and unlawful resort to the unilateral use of force against Guyana and its licensees in an area over which Guyana maintains sovereign rights,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Nonetheless, it said it is not too late for Venezuela to join in keeping a peaceful, just and final resolution of the controversy by participating in the proceedings before the ICJ.
On Friday, the same day Guyana through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the diplomatic note, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro reportedly signed a decree to protect the sovereignty of the Orinoco Delta region in direct to the recent incursion

The Venezuelan Ministry had said before the incident it had issued a note of protest, however, the facts of the matter indicate that the Foreign Affairs Ministry received a note of protest dated December 20, 2018 to the Notice to Mariners (dated December 6 and issued by the Guyanese Authorities) only after the incident on December 22, 2018.