GUYANA has firmly rejected the recent communique issued by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on September 27, 2023. Guyana’s stance is characterised by its unwavering commitment to the resolution process through the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The communique in question, issued by Venezuela, expressed its willingness to participate in a high-level meeting aimed at continuing negotiations concerning the longstanding border dispute, primarily governed by the 1966 Geneva Agreement. However, Guyana has expressed its bewilderment at this proposal, given the historical context of the dispute.
Below is a statement by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana:

The Cooperative Republic of Guyana rejects all that is said, implied and proposed by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in its Communique of 27 September 2023. It wishes particularly to re-iterate the statement of its Permanent Representative to the United Nations made on 26 September 2023 – by which it stands.

In relation to the final paragraph of its Communique in which the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela “ratifies its willingness to participate in a high-level meeting ….to continue the negotiations provided for in that legal instrument”- presumably, the Geneva Agreement 1966 – the Government of Guyana is confounded. It appears that Venezuela has forgotten that by 2018 it had utilised over two decades of ‘good offices’ to no effect, due largely to its own filibuster tactics, before the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, following on the efforts of his two predecessors, wrote to the Governments of both Venezuela and Guyana on 30 January 2018 as follows:

I have fulfilled the responsibility that has fallen on me within the framework set by my predecessor and, significant progress not having been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy, I have chosen the International Court of Justice as the means that is now to be used for its solution.

The Government of Venezuela hardly needs reminding that pursuant to the Secretary General’s decision, Guyana brought current proceedings before the Court on 29 March 2018, nor that the Court on two occasions has affirmed its jurisdiction in rejection of Venezuela’s efforts to frustrate the judicial proceedings. Venezuela must now proceed and face, as must Guyana, the Judgement of the Court. Instead, as Venezuela’s Communique makes clear, it wishes to “continue the negotiations” – avoiding a judgment of the world’s most authoritative Court. 2
The Government of Guyana will not facilitate this escape from a just and lawful settlement of the border dispute under the Geneva Agreement 1966 – as it believes Venezuela sees its proposed ‘high-level meeting’ facilitating. It will not engage in any such avoidance of the just and peaceful settlement which the International Court of Justice is in the process of providing.
Furthermore, the Government of Guyana brings to the notice of the Government of Venezuela the ‘Statement by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the Guyana-Venezuela Border Controversy’ issued on 22 September 2023 in the context of present exchanges which stated, inter alia:

CARICOM expresses the hope that Venezuela will engage fully in the process before the International Court of Justice, which has determined that it has the jurisdiction in the case brought before it. The Court’s final decision will ensure a resolution that is peaceful, equitable and in accordance with international law.
Finally, in the overall context of the Communique of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana reminds all involved that the CARICOM statement ended as follows:

The Caribbean Community reiterates its full and unequivocal support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, including the right to peacefully develop the resources of its territory.