THE HAGUE, CMC – Venezuela Wednesday vowed to go forward with its December 3 referendum to achieve possession of the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo in Guyana.
“The referendum is an inside home matter and isn’t meant in any approach to end result. In annexing the disputed territory,” Worldwide Regulation Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue informed the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ).
The place of the South American nation got here sooner or later after legal professional Paul Reichler outlined Georgetown’s place in his presentation to the ICJ, which is conducting public hearings dedicated to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Guyana on October 30, 2023.
In its request, Guyana had stated that the Venezuelan authorities, by way of its Nationwide Electoral Council, had printed a listing of 5 questions that it intends to place earlier than the folks of Venezuela in a “Consultative Referendum” subsequent month.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez informed the Courtroom that “Nothing will forestall the referendum scheduled for December 3 from being held.
“Nobody can deny or divide this proper lastly; the state of Venezuela is not going to flip its again on what the folks determine in the course of the referendum,” she stated, denying Guyana’s claims that Caracas was threatening peace and safety within the area.
She accused Guyana of utilizing the ICJ to intrude in her nation’s inside affairs, including,” Nothing is above the structure.”
Displaying a number of publications, claiming that Guyana has had a document of taking steps with america to “strengthen preparedness by way of tactical and operational integration.”
Rodriguez stated Venezuela’s look earlier than the ICJ didn’t represent the jurisdiction of that Courtroom however opted to current its arguments to counter “With out prejudice to our place, and doctrine on jurisdiction. We come earlier than this courtroom to defend independence, sovereignty and self-determination because the inalienable rights of our nation”.
The ICJ has already declared that it has jurisdiction to listen to Guyana’s substantive case that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award of the land boundary with Venezuela. It is going to announce a date for its determination on Guyana’s request to dam the referendum.
The Vice President stated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has all the time been fascinated by dialogue and negotiation and that her nation has by no means attacked any authorities or crossed borders to invade or annex territories.
In his arguments earlier than the ICJ, Professor Mbengue stated that the referendum and its home penalties will not be and can’t be the topic of the proceedings earlier than the Courtroom on the case’s deserves.
He stated Guyana’s requested measures couldn’t be subsumed by the Courtroom’s eventual judgment on the deserves.
“The courtroom ought to, due to this fact, reject Guyana’s request for provisional measures,” he stated, including that not one of the outcomes of the referendum would have any antagonistic influence on Guyana’s alleged title over the disputed territory and even much less create a threat of irreparable hurt to Guyana.
Venezuela’s Agent to the ICJ, Ambassador Samuel Moncada, accused Guyana of making an attempt to “silence the reminiscence of a individuals who technology after technology” about their nationwide geography.
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