The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterated its firm disposition to defend the territorial integrity of the Homeland and maintain political negotiation on the territory of the Guayana Essequibo, based on the Geneva Agreement of 1966.
This was announced by the Venezuelan Chancellor, Jorge Arreza, after the meeting held by the Presidential Commission of State for the Guarantee of Territorial Integrity and Border Affairs, after receiving an official communication from the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, regarding the case of the territorial dispute.
Through a communiqué it is stated that the document of Secretary General Guterres surpasses the successive nature of the means of peaceful settlement established by the Geneva Agreement as a methodology established to reach an acceptable, practical and satisfactory solution to the controversy, by recommending to bring the case to the International Court of Justice, an instance that is not recognized by either of the two States in dispute.
Finally, he reiterates that the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, calls for national unity to protect the most sacred interests of the Nation.
The aforementioned commission is made up of the Executive Vice President, Tareck El Aissami, the Chancellor, Jorge Arreaza, the Minister of People’s Power for Defense, G / J Vladimir Padrino López, and the constituents Elvis Amoroso and Gerardo Márquez.
Following, the official communiqué:
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs the international community and the Venezuelan people that on January 30, 2018, it received a communication from the General Secretary of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, about the negotiation process on the territorial controversy with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Through this communication, the UN’s Secretary General indicates the following: after a brief review of the negotiation process developed in 2017, recommends the International Court of Justice as the next means to be used for the settlement of the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana for the Essequibo territory. In addition, it considers that the Governments of Venezuela and Guyana could benefit from continuity in the good offices of the United Nations.
In this regard, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela makes the following known to the Venezuelan people and the world:
Venezuela ratifies the full validity of the agreement of Geneva of February 17, 1966, signed and ratified between our country and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in consultation with the then Government of British Guiana. This is the international treaty that governs as a law the territorial controversy between the parties, validly recognized and registered before the United Nations, the only way towards a definitive solution to this disgraceful legacy of British colonialism.
Venezuela duly recorded its strong opposition to the letter of December 15, 2016, signed by the former Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, alerting that the criteria contained therein exceeded the powers granted to his investiture, contravening the spirit, purpose and reason of the Geneva Agreement and the principle of equity concluded between the parties.
Secretary General Guterres’ communication goes beyond the successive nature of the means of peaceful settlement established by the Geneva Agreement as a methodology established to reach an acceptable, practical and satisfactory solution to the controversy.
During 2017, Venezuela maintained its historic position in the process of good offices of the UN Secretary General, privileging the high national interest and the permanent vindication of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Venezuelan people over the territory of Guayana Essequibo.
These negotiations were conducted with jealous confidentiality, as an essential rule of the good offices process by agreement between the parties and the United Nations.
It is worth asking the reasons that prevailed to recommend the International Court of Justice to two States that do not recognize its jurisdiction, since the Geneva Accord itself provides for the political means for the settlement of the territorial dispute. In this sense, Venezuela ratifies in a decisive way the unequivocal intention that the negotiation process continues under these political means.
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, faithful to its historical tradition and in accordance with the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace, reiterates its firm disposition to defend the territorial integrity of our country and maintain political negotiation based on the 1966 Geneva Agreement, as the only way to reach a peaceful, practical and satisfactory solution for both parties in favor of our peoples.
The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, guarantees the Venezuelan people that they will continue to defend sovereign rights over the Guayana Essequibo and call for national unity to protect the most sacred interests of the Homeland.
Caracas, January 31, 2018
The Sun of Venezuela is born in the Essequibo!
