President Ali says in response to Venezuela’s objection to local oil auction
–vows to protect Guyana’s sovereign rights
PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Tuesday, reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to defending its sovereignty and sovereign rights over its territory, in light of recent objections raised by Venezuela regarding the local oil auction.
Venezuela issued a statement challenging Guyana’s sovereignty, noting that certain maritime areas are not under Guyana’s sovereign rights, and any actions within these areas violate international law unless agreed upon with Venezuela.
President Ali responded firmly, stating: “The Government of Guyana reserves the right to pursue economic development activities in any portion of its sovereign territory or any appurtenant maritime territories.”
He said too: “Any unilateral attempt by Venezuela to restrict the exercise by Guyana of its sovereignty and sovereign rights will be wholly inconsistent with the Geneva Agreement and the rule of international law.”
In April of this year, the world court ruled that the case Guyana brought before it seeking to affirm the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award settling the boundaries between it and Venezuela was admissible.
This meant that the court could move forward with hearing the substantive case on its merits, of whether the 1899 arbitral award settling the boundaries of the two countries is valid and binding.
The ruling marked the second time that the international court has rejected jurisdictional objections raised by Venezuela.
Guyana moved to the ICJ with its case in March 2018, challenging the non-participating Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela over its disagreement on the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Award.
Venezuela maintained that the ICJ was without jurisdiction to hear the case and refused to participate in the court proceedings.
The Spanish-speaking country had claimed that it is the “sole indisputable inheritor” of the Essequibo region and the Monetary Gold Principle.
Although Venezuela had claimed that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction to hear the substantive case, the country made a u-turn following the court’s December 2020 ruling on that aspect of the case. Venezuela on that occasion contended that Guyana had no standing in the matter. The court unanimously rejected Venezuela’s objection.
Guyana is seeking a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid and that the Essequibo region belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.