Georgetown: Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd met with Moses Chavez, Chargé d’ Affaires, Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on Monday to register the strong objection of the Guyana Government over the issuing of a decree by Caracas purporting to assert sovereignty over the maritime area adjacent to Guyana’s Essequibo coast.
The decree on Thursday was also accompanied by bellicose and threatening language from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
President Irfaan Ali in an address to the nation on Saturday described the decree as a “legal nullity”.
President Ali contended that the fixing of an international boundary under international law can only result from an agreement between neighbouring States, or a binding determination by an international court or arbitral tribunal.
Guyana is confident that the international court will resolve the issue in its favour, and that this will also settle the issue of maritime rights in the adjacent sea and seabed.
“I remind that sovereignty over this coast, and the land territory to which it is attached, were awarded to Guyana (then British Guiana) in the 1899 Arbitral Award, whose validity and legally binding character Guyana is confident the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will uphold unequivocally,” President Ali affirmed.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary (ag) for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, has said that the U.S. supports the ICJ’s ruling that it has jurisdiction in the Guyana, Venezuela territorial border issue, which is the legal and peaceful way forward.
“Maduro’s aggressive claims don’t change this; they only show the world his disregard for his neighbours and international law,” Kozak asserted in a post on his official Twitter page.
Additionally, U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch also reiterated the North American country’s call for a legal, peaceful resolution to the border controversy.
Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon in a statement on Sunday urged Venezuela to utilise the ICJ as the forum to present its case, and to cease and desist from issuing these arbitrary decrees.
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