Venezuelan Position on the Essequibo Presented Before the ICJ

April 8, 2024 Hour: 10:14 am

On Monday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez presented before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) a document containing the solid truth and the official position regarding the historical and current bases of its sovereign right over the Guayana Esequiba region.

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In statements preceding the presentation of this document, she noted that the only valid instrument for resolving the territorial dispute is the 1966 Geneva Agreement, as Venezuela has never recognized the 1899 Arbitration Award.

“Venezuela is known for complying with international agreements… We have warned about how Guyana, in an unprecedented manner, wants to validate a crime,” Rodriguez stressed, adding that “an aggression against Venezuela is being prepared.”

According to information published by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry, the document containing “the solid truth and the official position” on the Essequibo dispute highlights issues such as the following:

“We’re currently in the #Netherlands, checking documents … We have come to hand over… the facts about #Venezuela‘s inherent right. We are ready to destroy all the lies presented by #Guyana,” #Venezuela‘s Vice President said on X. https://t.co/ZnzzjMIrSm

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish)
April 8, 2024

* The filing of this document does not imply Venezuela’s consent or recognition of the jurisdiction of the Court in the territorial dispute over Guayana Esequiba, nor of the decision it may adopt on this matter.

* In March 2018, Venezuela was informed of one of the most serious events in the history of the dispute over Guayana Esequiba: Guyana had dared to violently breach the Geneva Agreement and international legality by unilaterally claiming before the International Court of Justice the validity of the fraudulent arbitral award of 1899 in an irregular manner.

* Venezuela, without delay, opposed this dangerous anti-legal move by Guyana, promoted by Exxon Mobil since 2015 and backed by the United States, which only aims at disregarding and circumventing the obligations clearly established for both parties in the 1966 Geneva Agreement. Guyana’s desperation had overflowed in its greed to steal the immense riches that belong to Venezuela.

* On February 17, 1966, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and British Guiana, currently Guyana, signed the Geneva Agreement with the purpose of putting an end to the territorial controversy by means of a practical, acceptable and satisfactory settlement for all parties. This Agreement is in force and it constitutes the regulatory framework to be fulfilled in good faith by the parties, in accordance with international law.

* Indeed, since the Geneva Agreement was conceived, negotiated and signed, as well as during the work of the Joint Commission, the effectiveness of the Port of Spain Protocol and the good offices process, the legal issue regarding the validity of the award has never been on the horizon. The object, nature and reason has always been to resolve the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba by means of political, peaceful, and diplomatic negotiations.

* Venezuela, starting with the spoliation orchestrated by the UK and executed through the arbitration fraud of 1899, has had a legitimate and justified historical distrust of these mechanisms, given the decisive power exercised by the colonial empires over these instances to impose their interests and dispossess the peoples. The Geneva Agreement is the sole instrument that can resolve this controversy.

* Some actions of the International Court of Justice in the case of Guayana Esequiba have fueled this distrust, especially taking into account the energy- related interests behind the unilateral claim of Guyana.

* The most serious of said actions has been to accept and process Guyana’s claim without Venezuela ever having given its consent to the jurisdiction of the Court. No provision of the Geneva Agreement can justify such action. Moreover, Venezuela is one of the 119 States that do not recognize the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court.

* It is particularly striking that, since 2015, Guyana, Exxon Mobil and its partners have taken a decision of the International Court of Justice in favor of their unilateral claim as a fait accompli.

* The confessions made by Raphael Trotman, Guyana’s Minister of Governance and Natural Resources during the period 2015-2020, in his book entitled “From Destiny to Prosperity”, make Exxon Mobil’s sponsorship and financing of Guyana’s unilateral action before the ICJ to validate the spurious 1899 award incontrovertible.

* Also undeniable is the pressure exerted by Guyana, with the support of the imperial diplomacy of the U.S., on the General Secretariat of the United Nations so that the controversy would be referred to the International Court of Justice, abandoning the obligation and practice of over 60 years for the achievement of a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties, which is the true object of the Geneva Agreement. It was never intended to re-examine the fraudulent award of 1899 when that agreement was signed. The matter had been already overcome.

* Another element that discredits this instance has been the complacent action of the International Court of Justice in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, without demanding an immediate ceasefire from the Israeli government and thus benefiting the colonial powers. Tragically, these are the same hegemons that today instrumentalize the Court to appropriate the vast energy resources of our territory and destabilize Latin America and the Caribbean.

* Venezuela presented its solid historical truth when faced with the claim of confiscation of its birthright over the territory of Guayana Esequiba, in compliance with the very clear mandate of the Venezuelan people emanating from the referendum of December 3, 2023 and the express guidelines of the Head of State.

* Venezuela will never allow itself to be extorted by a government servile to the darkest foreign interests. The only possible way to solve the controversy over the territory of Guayana Esequiba is the return of Guyana to the negotiating table to make effective the practical, acceptable and satisfactory settlement for both parties, to which they committed themselves in the Geneva Agreement, the only binding and valid instrument between the parties to resolve this dispute.

* Guyana, under a false victimhood, is accompanied by its colonial chief, the U.K, and the bloodiest war machine humanity has ever known, the United States. Currently, Guyana, the Southern Command and the CIA, along with their partners in the global north, are preparing an aggression against Venezuela which poses a real threat to peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

* Venezuela ratifies its full commitment to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including its absolute and indisputable adherence to the Geneva Agreement.

* Venezuela as a whole, in national union, will assert its historical rights as brave sons and daughters of our Liberator Simon Bolivar. This is the moment of truth. The Venezuelan Sun is born in the Essequibo!