–Commonwealth SG rejects Venezuela’s latest move
-urges other Commonwealth states to support Guyana

THE Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, KC, has echoed the concern of President Dr Irfaan Ali that its neighbour will move to seize Guyana’s Essequibo following the decision by Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro to promulgate the Organic Law for the ‘Defence of Essequiba.’

In rejecting this latest move by Guyana’s neighbour, the Commonwealth Secretary-General called on fellow Commonwealth member states to lend Guyana support in this time of need.
By this new law, Venezuela purports to exercise control over two-thirds of the sovereign territory of Guyana.

This legislation appears to create a new state in Venezuela and the Head of State of Venezuela will have the power to elect a governor, and the National Assembly of Venezuela will have legislative functions in this territory. Also, all political maps of Venezuela will now include the ‘state of Guyana Essequiba’.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the SG said, “Yesterday, on 5 April 2024, I received a letter from His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. President Ali is concerned that Venezuela’s next move would be to implement its plan for the seizure of Guyana’s sovereign territory.”

The Secretary-General reiterated the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which on December 1, 2023, unanimously indicated its Order on Provisional Measures on the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. It states, pending the Court’s final decision in the case, “the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Co-operative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over that area.”

As such, she noted that this latest move by Venezuela directly flouts the order of the ICJ.
“Venezuela’s latest actions appear to directly contravene the ICJ Order and also the spirit of the 14 December 2023 Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela where both states agreed to use international law and diplomatic means to address the controversy and to refrain from escalating the conflict.

“The Commonwealth affirms that the ICJ process is the appropriate and lawful means to address the matter under international law.”
The Secretary-General cited the December 11, 2023, Outcome Statement of the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana, as well as, her prior remarks on the subject from November 1 and December 1, 2023. She also referenced the Concluding Statement of the Sixty-Fourth Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, issued on March 12, 2024.

“I am encouraged by the firm and consistent support from the entire Commonwealth family for the Government and people of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. I also call on member states to give whatever support they may feel appropriate to Guyana in this time of need.

“I offer my continued support, and that of the Commonwealth, to help resolve the matter by peaceful means,” the SG reiterated.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General urged the Government and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to abide by the principles of international law and to manage the dispute in ways that guarantee the peace and stability of the Caribbean region.

The border between Guyana and Venezuela was settled by an arbitral tribunal on October 3, 1899, but on the event of Guyana’s independence in 1966, Venezuela repudiated the award which it had upheld for more than 60 years.

Decades of talks failed to settle the controversy and the United Nations Secretary-General, in keeping with an agreement in Geneva which Venezuela signed on to, referred the matter to the International Court of Justice.
In provisional measures granted last December, the Court ruled that Guyana has governed and exercised sovereignty over the 83,000 square miles determined as its territory in 1899, and that should not change unless the court determines otherwise in its ultimate ruling.