…Guyana condemns Russia for military base accusation
…calls on Moscow to retract statement immediately

THE Government of Guyana on Friday deemed “utterly false” and “baseless” a statement made by a Russian diplomat that Venezuelans are being trained here at a military base to

launch destabilisation activities in the Bolivarian Republic.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it notes with concern a statement made by the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, M. V. Zakharova, during a briefing on August 15, 2019 on the sidelines of the International Youth Forum Eurasia Global in the Russian city of Orenburg.

The spokesperson stated that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was “completing the construction of a military base on one of the islands at the mouth of the Essekibo (sic) River under a plausible pretext – supposedly to stop the smuggling of weapons and drugs.”

She went on to say, “there have already arrived several dozen so-called ‘Refugees’ from Venezuela to undergo training as part of reconnaissance and sabotage groups and then to be dispatched to Venezuelan territory in order to destabilise the situation and carry out appropriate actions – from extremist to terrorist.”

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the pronouncement by the Russian official “is especially unfortunate given that relations between Guyana and Russia have always been based on mutual respect, trust and friendship.” The government called on Moscow to withdraw the statement.

The government said it reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

It said Guyana has always been resolute in its advocacy for several principles of international law including, in particular, the sovereign equality of states. “Guyana therefore categorically rejects any suggestion that it would allow its sovereign territory to be used in a manner inconsistent with its neighbourly and peaceful relations with Venezuela,” the statement read.

In addition, it was noted that in respect of the controversy arising from Venezuela’s contention that the 1899 Arbitral Award establishing the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela is “null and void”, Guyana remains fully committed to the January 30, 2018 decision of the United Nations Secretary-General, pursuant to his authority under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, to choose the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the means for the peaceful settlement of the controversy.

In an effort to bring an end to the age-old border controversy, on January 30, 2018 the United Nations UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in keeping with the 1966 Geneva Agreement, announced that the International Court of Justice would be the means to be used for the solution of the controversy. On March 29, 2018, then Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, filed Guyana’s application with the ICJ.

Venezuela’s most recent action – the refusal to file a Counter-Memorial (CM) on the court’s jurisdiction by April 18, in defiance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), – was the latest in a series of counterproductive moves by the western neighbour.

The ICJ had requested the CM after Guyana submitted arguments in November of last year, contending that the ICJ has jurisdiction to hear and rule on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award that fixed the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela. The ICJ requested the CM, so that the court could hear both sides, but Venezuela refused to tell its side.

The recent refusal by Venezuela to submit the CM to the ICJ had prompted Guyana to request that the ICJ go ahead with the case. The court should now rule on whether it has jurisdiction, and, if it does, it should hear and determine the substantive issue of Venezuela’s claim to our land.