VENEZUELA’S recent action to declare the Essequibo Region a “constituent part of Venezuela” is a clear violation of international law and a breach of the Argyle Declaration hammered out between President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicholas Maduro in St. Vincent and the Grenadines just last December.

According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs release, Guyana considers this action a flagrant violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

Guyana has accordingly, and in the interest of a peaceful resolution, issued a renewed call to the international community to pressure Venezuela to use the World Court to settle the territorial controversy regarding Essequibo region.

Guyana calls on the international community to uphold the rule of law by rejecting Venezuela’s illegal expansionism and by insisting that Venezuela revert to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has before it the case for a full and final resolution of the controversy over the land border between the two countries.

Venezuela’s actions notwithstanding, Guyana remains committed to peace on its borders and in the region. However, as repeatedly stated by President Ali, it will not allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be usurped.

Guyana will exert all of its efforts under international law to ensure that its sovereignty and territorial integrity remains intact.

Moreover, such unilateral actions on the part of the Venezuelan government calls into question that element of trust and the extent to which agreements entered into in good faith with the Venezuelan government can be honoured and respected.

As pointed out in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs release, this most recent action is an egregious violation of the Order on provisional measures issued by the ICJ on December 1, 2023 and a violation of the Argyle Declaration of December 14, 2023 agreed to by the leaders of CARICOM and Brazil, the representatives of the United Nations and by the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela.

At the recent opening session of a CARICOM Regional Security System conference, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn deplored what he describes as “a violation of the principles of good faith discussions which were undertaken at Argyle and more latterly in Brazil.”

He also alluded to the risks and challenges that could lead to instability especially due to the presence of non-state actors such as remnants of Colombian rebel groups such as FARC and ELN in eastern Venezuela near the borders with Guyana.

President Ali and his administration must be commended for the efforts made to bring about a peaceful and legally binding resolution to the border controversy in the face of continuing provocation and hostility on the part of the Maduro administration.

Indeed, the actions taken by Guyana are demonstrative of full confidence in the rule of international law and the power of diplomacy to ensure that international law prevails and that peace in the region is not threatened.