Venezuela Urges Guyana to Negotiate After 59 Years of Geneva Agreement
Signing of the Geneva Agreement on Feb. 17, 1966. X/ @teleSURtv
February 17, 2025 Hour: 12:29 pm
The 1966 agreement established a framework for dialogue and negotiation regarding the Essequibo territory.
On Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil reaffirmed that the Geneva Agreement is the only way to resolve the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over Essequibo, a 160,000-square-kilometer territory that has historically belonged to the Bolivarian nation.
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“On Feb. 17, 1966, the Geneva Agreement was signed, a treaty between Venezuela and Guyana following the latter’s independence from the United Kingdom. This diplomatic agreement established a framework for dialogue and negotiation regarding the Essequibo territory,” he said.
“Through the Geneva Agreement, both nations committed to leaving behind the colonial legacy of the Paris Arbitral Award, seeking to resolve the territorial dispute in a sovereign and peaceful manner,” the Bolivarian minister stressed.
“Fifty-nine years after the signing, Venezuela reaffirms the full validity of the Geneva Agreement and denounces the constant and systematic violations by the government of Guyana, which has sought to disregard its commitments and unilaterally exploit a territory that does not belong to it,” Gil stated.
“This has led to the abusive, illicit, and illegitimate extraction of oil, gold, and other precious minerals in the disputed area, benefiting ExxonMobil and other major energy transnationals, despite Venezuela’s formal and official protests,” he added.
“Guyana persists in its obstinate interest in jeopardizing the peace and stability of the Latin American and Caribbean region, openly cooperating with external actors in this dispute, including the establishment of U.S. SouthCom military bases in the Essequibo territory,” the Bolivarian diplomat added.
On Monday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez also emphasized that Venezuela will not renounce its historical, irrefutable, and inalienable rights over Essequibo.
“Guayana Esequiba is and will remain an indisputable part of Venezuela’s territorial integrity, and the fight for its recovery continues to be an unwavering cause for the entire nation, which expressed its near-unanimous support for the Geneva Agreement in the 2023 consultative referendum,” she recalled.
While Venezuela upholds the Geneva Agreement, Guyana seeks to resolve the border conflict through the International Court of Justice and by relying on an 1899 arbitral award.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: FM – EFE
