-Chief of Staff says

WHILE dispelling the propaganda being peddled by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Brigadier, Omar Khan affirmed that there is no Venezuelan flag flying on Guyana’s border.

Amidst a time of heightened tensions, the Chief of Staff sought to provide this key information during a press conference on Saturday at Base Camp Ayanganna.
“There’s no Venezuelan flag on our border, none,” the Chief of Staff told reporters.

Additionally, last Thursday, while standing firm on the position that Guyana will not allow belligerent powers to threaten its territorial integrity, Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said that every movement that our western-neighbour makes, is tracked.

“I can assure you that we’re watching, carefully, everything that is going on.

“Every single movement that the Venezuelans make, particularly the proximity of our borders, is tracked,” the Vice President affirmed.

Additionally, the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr Irfaan Ali, stated that Guyana will not stand idly and allow Venezuela to act on its intent to take control of the Essequibo region, but instead, the nation will remain on high alert.

“We have to be at a high state of alert,” he said, adding that Guyana’s first line of defence has always been diplomacy.

As the President of Guyana and the Commander-in-Chief, Dr Ali said he has to be vigilant and take the statements and actions emanating out of Venezuela with the utmost seriousness.
Despite unanimous pleas for the Venezuelan administration to abide by international law, the Spanish-speaking country defied these calls and went full speed ahead with its December 3 sham referendum seeking to seize two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

In December the ICJ granted Guyana provisional measures to prevent any action by Venezuela that could lead to the annexation of Guyana’s territory.

The decision was handed down by the President of the ICJ, Justice Joan E. Donoghue, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

The court ordered that pending the decision of the substantive case, Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action that would modify the situation that currently prevails with the territory in dispute, whereby Guyana administers and exercises control over the Essequibo.

As an additional measure, the court also ordered that “both parties refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve.”