Latest update June 17th, 2024 12:45 AM
Dec 13, 2023 News
Kaieteur News – On Monday evening, Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro released the letter he sent to Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves who will mediate “peace talks” with Guyana’s Head of State, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
Maduro confirmed that he would be attending that meeting, set for Thursday in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Upon noting some of the preposterous claims contained within Maduro’s letter, Guyana’s President thought it prudent to set the record straight ahead of the historic in-person meeting.
Perhaps the most alarming claim by Maduro, was that the meeting on Thursday will provide an opportunity to “clear up elements that have aggravated the (border) controversy in recent years.” He also said that the imposition of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in adjudicating the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy is a violation of the principle of mutual consent. For Maduro, the ICJ is one of the factors that threatens the deterioration of the situation between Venezuela and Guyana.
Irrespective of Maduro’s position, President Ali made it clear, once again, that there will be no deviating from the ICJ process, nor is it up for discussion. He also stressed that his acceptance of the invitation was premised on the understanding that CARICOM fully supports the ICJ process and that there is a need to de-escalate tensions.
Readers would recall that Maduro held a referendum on December 3 to galvanise support from his people to annex the Essequibo region. Following his referendum, Maduro said several steps would be taken regarding his quest for the mineral-rich region. These include giving companies such as ExxonMobil three months to leave as well as drafting a law that would ensure governing the affairs of the region. Ali made it clear that he is committed to exploring all options that would de-escalate tensions. Ali also rubbished Maduro’s contention in his letter that the 1899 Arbitral Award was null and void because it was product of an alleged plot between the US and the United Kingdom.
“It should be noted that Venezuela has never offered any credible support or evidence for its contention of nullity and invalidity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which settled the boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela.
“Nor has it offered 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,” Ali said while reminding that Venezuela celebrated the same Award for over 60 years.
It should be noted that the first time Venezuela actually raised any objection to the Arbitral Award was in 1966 when Guyana was seeking independence. Fifty-seven years later, Venezuela has brought no evidence to the public to support its claim of invalidity.
President Ali also dismissed Maduro’s spurious claims that ExxonMobil benefitted from oil blocks that are within the area of contention. Ali categorically stated that all oil concessions are within Guyana’s maritime zone. Ali stated too that the 14 oil blocks which recently featured in Guyana’s maiden licensing round are also farther east of the boundary with Venezuela—and farther from the Venezuelan coast than the Stabroek Block where Exxon has unlocked 11 billion barrels of resources.
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