-President Ali says ahead of meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro
AHEAD of “high-level” dialogue between Presidents Dr. Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro, the Guyanese Head-of-State has reiterated the position that the border controversy is not on the table for discussion, as it is squarely before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
President Irfaan Ali has agreed to a proposed meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro set to take place Thursday in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, facilitated by the Prime Minister of St. Vincent Ralph Gonsalves and observed by Brazil, CARICOM, and a UN Under-Secretary-General.
In a letter penned to the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, on Tuesday, President Ali sought to clarify the inaccuracies that Maduro has been spreading.
“In my prior letter, I indicated my understanding that the meeting is to be conducted in consonance with the framework elaborated for such a meeting in the Communique of CARICOM Heads of Government of 8th December, 2023,” Dr Ali said.
“…It is incumbent upon me to respond to certain inaccuracies in President Maduro’s letter to you of December 11, 2023. Particularly his statement that: the ‘high-level dialogue’ to which you have invited us, is “in order to directly address the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana…” the President wrote in the letter to Dr Gonsalves.
The Guyanese President reiterated that he, too, has a mandate from the National Assembly of Guyana which is “unanimous in its resolve that the land boundary is not a matter for bilateral discussions and the settlement of the matter is properly in the International Court of Justice where it must remain until the court gives its final ruling on the merits of the case which, Guyana has always said, and I repeat, will be fully respected by Guyana.”
Within the letter, the President highlighted that with the urgency of an engagement between Guyana and Venezuela, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government further called for “a de-escalation of the conflict through an appropriate dialogue between the leaders of Venezuela and Guyana to ensure peaceful co-existence, the application and respect for international law and the avoidance of the use or threats of force.”
Focusing on the Geneva Agreement, which was signed on February 17, 1966, between the UK/British Guiana and Venezuela, he said that Guyana became a party upon attaining independence, and “the Agreement provided several mechanisms for Guyana and Venezuela to resolve Venezuela’s contention of nullity and invalidity of the Award by talks; failing which, the Agreement mandates the United Nations Secretary General to select a final means of settlement of the controversy. That is the process that was scrupulously followed,” Dr Ali stated.
Furthermore, the President stressed that Venezuela has never put forth any credible support or evidence for its opinion of the nullity and invalidity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which settled the boundary between then-British Guiana and Venezuela. The country has neither produced evidence to contradict the validity of the 1905 Agreement, signed by both parties, fixing the boundary along the line established in the 1899 Arbitral Award and to the contrary, between 1899 and 1962 Venezuela accepted and recognised that boundary as the international boundary between the two States, as reflected in all official Venezuela maps published during this 60 plus year period.
“The Geneva Agreement of 1966 provides assurances of a final settlement by vesting in the Secretary-General of the United Nations the authority to choose the International Court of Justice as the means of settling the controversy in accordance with international law,” the President wrote.
Moreover, Dr Ali stated: “I am obliged to point to other inaccurate assertions in President Maduro’s letter. He refers to oil concessions “in a maritime area yet to be delimited.” I point out that, contrary to that misleading assertion, all of the oil blocks are located well within Guyanese waters under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees coastal States the exclusive rights to the resources in the sea and seabed within 200 nautical miles of their coasts. The oil blocks are all located adjacent to Guyana’s coast and within 200 nautical miles of it.”
He also pointed out the misleading nature of President Maduro’s statement and shifted Dr Gonsalves’ attention to the fact that in 2015, a significant oil discovery was made by Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited in the Stabroek Block, approximately 120 miles offshore of Guyana.
“As for the further inaccurate allegation that there is “meddling of the United States Southern Command, which has begun operations in the disputed territory,” the Government of Guyana maintains its sovereign right to engage in any form of cooperation with its bilateral partners and does not support intervention in the internal affairs of any other state, a principle that is honoured by responsible states in the international community. Any allegation that a military operation aimed at Venezuela exists in any part of Guyanese territory is false, misleading and provocative,” President Ali wrote.
He then went on to tell Dr Gonsalves: “Let me assure you dear colleague that I am prepared to speak with President Maduro on any other aspect that may contribute to improving and strengthening amicable relations between our two countries” adding: “I appreciate the efforts that you and my other CARICOM colleagues are making to facilitate such a dialogue, as well as Brazil and other countries of CELAC, and wish to restate Guyana’s commitment to the peace and security of our region.”
