GEORGETOWN, Guyana, April 18CMC—The Guyana authorities says it is not going to focus on any matter introduced earlier than the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) within the ongoing border dispute with Venezuela.
The Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Worldwide Cooperation mentioned it wished to “reject” an announcement made by the “Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Folks’s Republic of China that Guyana and Venezuela “can remedy the border problem via pleasant consultations and negotiations.”
Earlier this week, the Chargé d’Affaires on the Chinese language Embassy, Huang Rui, informed reporters that whereas Beijing doesn’t intervene in different nation’s inside affairs and respects all nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, he believes that Guyana and Venezuela ought to interact in “pleasant consultations and negotiations” to settle the last decade’s old-border problem between the 2 South American neighbors.
“When you observe the Chinese language overseas insurance policies, all these insurance policies, so long as potential, you will notice, initially, we by no means intervene within the inside affairs of any nation. The second precept is that we all the time respect [other countries] sovereignty and territoriality, that’s all,” Rui added.
However in its assertion, the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Worldwide Cooperation mentioned it wished to remind “the Folks’s Republic of China of the place made pellucidly clear on a number of events by the Authorities of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana that the matter is pending earlier than the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice by determination of the United Nations Secretary-Normal, by the events’ 1966 Geneva Settlement on settlement of the controversy”.
It additionally mentioned that the Argyle Declaration, signed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines following talks between President Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro on December 14, 2023, acknowledges “Guyana’s assertion that it’s dedicated to the method and procedures of the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice for the decision of the border controversy….”
“To that finish, and so as to not undermine the jurisdiction or authority of the Courtroom as the suitable discussion board for the decision of this controversy, Guyana is not going to focus on any matter introduced earlier than the Courtroom,” the ministry mentioned.
It additionally mentioned that it had taken be aware “that there was no remark from the Authorities of the Folks’s Republic of China on the blatant announcement by the Authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that it intends to conduct elections on Might 25, 2025, for a governor and legislative council of “Guayana Esequiba State,” which is the title Venezuela has given to Guyana’s Essequibo area. It is a clear violation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“The ideas of worldwide legislation and mutual respect will proceed to information the actions of the Authorities of Guyana in its interactions with all member states of the worldwide group,” the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Worldwide Cooperation mentioned within the assertion.
In the meantime, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, talking at his weekly information convention on Thursday, mentioned, “We consider that the matter can be settled definitively on the ICJ and for the Chargé (d’Affaires) to now say we now have to return to bilateral dialogue is improper and misplaced as a result of it’s not respectful of our nationwide coverage,”
Jagdeo informed reporters there was no shift in Guyana’s place that there’s One China somewhat than two, together with Taiwan’s breakaway province.
“The One China coverage is the coverage of the federal government of Guyana. It’s the coverage of many of the world, together with that of the USA of America, and I don’t see that altering now,” he mentioned.
Overseas Secretary Robert Persaud, writing on his Fb web page, mentioned, “China must be principled in its place on respecting Guyana’s territorial integrity and never appease Maduro’s serial violation of worldwide legal guidelines.”
Venezuela claims the whole Essequibo area and a portion of its Unique Financial Zone (EEZ) offshore, the place greater than 11 billion barrels of oil equal (boe) have been found within the prolific Stabroek Block.
In 2023, Caracas claimed that greater than half of eligible Venezuelan voters had taken half in a referendum that yielded overwhelming assist for claiming the Essequibo.
Nationwide Electoral Council president Elvis Amoroso mentioned greater than 10.4 million out of 20.7 million eligible voters had solid their ballots.
The referendum got here after the ICJ warned Caracas towards “annexation” of the Essequibo. This oil-rich area makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is dwelling to 125,000 of its 800,000 residents.
Chinese language state-owned oil firm China Nationwide Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), with a 25 p.c working curiosity, is among the companions working within the oil-rich Stabroek Block.
The 2 nations are earlier than the ICJ in regards to the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 … which is pending earlier than it.
The case, filed by Guyana in March 2018, seeks the court docket’s determination on the validity of the Arbitration Award that lastly decided the land boundary between the 2 nations. The court docket has already dominated that it has jurisdiction over the controversy and can resolve on the case’s deserves.
