The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela delivered to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “a document and its respective copies with the historical truth and evidence that demonstrate that we are the only ones entitled to the territory of the Guayana Esequiba”.Thus was indicated by the Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez from Holland, in The Hague, this Monday.
She stated that “The criminal award of 1899 was a fraud. Venezuela has never consented to the jurisdiction of the Court for this territorial controversy; The only valid instrument is the 1966 Geneva Agreement and this is proven. We Shall Overcome!”.
The vice president also highlighted that in compliance with the mandate of the people expressed in the referendum of December 3, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela presented its solid historical truth, in the face of the claim of confiscation of the rights that have corresponded to it since its birth over the territory of the Guayana Esequiba:
“The truth of Venezuela will prevail against the territorial dispossession committed through a fraudulent and criminal award. All of Venezuela, in national union, will recover Guayana Esequiba through the Geneva Agreement. “The moment of truth has arrived!” she pointed out.
Subsequently, the vice president read the following communiqué:
THE TRUTH OF VENEZUELA WILL PREVAIL
AGAINST TERRITORIAL DISPOSALMENT
WE WILL RECOVER THE ESEQUIBO
1.- The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs the presentation, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), of the document containing the solid truth and the official position, in relation to the historical and current bases of its sovereign right over Guayana Esequiba.
2.- The delivery of this document does not imply the consent of Venezuela or the recognition of the jurisdiction of the Court in the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba, nor of the decision it may adopt on this matter.
3.- In March 2018, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was informed of one of the most serious events in the history of the controversy over Guyana Esequiba: the Cooperative Republic of Guyana had dared to violently break into the Geneva Agreement and international legality. by unilaterally demanding before the International Court of Justice the validity of the fraudulent arbitration award of 1899 in an irregular manner.
4.- Venezuela, without delay, opposed this dangerous illegal move by Guyana, promoted by Exxon Mobil since 2015 and supported by the government of the United States of America, which only has the purpose of ignoring and flouting the obligations clearly established for the parties to the Geneva Agreement of 1966. Guyana’s desperation had overflowed into its greed to steal the immense wealth that belongs to Venezuela.
5.- On February 17, 1966, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and the British Guyana, (today the Cooperative Republic of Guyana), signed the Geneva Agreement with the objective of ending the territorial dispute through a practical settlement, acceptable and satisfactory to all parties. This Agreement is in force and is the regulatory framework that must be complied with in good faith by the parties, in accordance with international law.
6.- Indeed, since the Geneva Agreement was conceived, negotiated and signed, as well as during the work of the Joint Commission, the validity of the Port of Spain Protocol and the good offices process, resolving the legal question regarding the validity of the award. The object, nature and reason has always been to resolve the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba, through political, peaceful and diplomatic negotiation.
7.- Venezuela, starting from the dispossession orchestrated by the United Kingdom and executed through the arbitration fraud of 1899, has had a legitimate and justified historical distrust of these mechanisms, given the decisive power that colonial empires exercise over these instances to impose their interests and dispossess the villages. Only the Geneva Agreement is the instrument to resolve this controversy.
8.- Some actions of the International Court of Justice in the Guayana Esequiba case have fueled this mistrust, especially taking into account the energy interests behind the unilateral demand of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
9.- The most serious of them has been accepting and processing Guyana’s claim without Venezuela having ever given its consent to the jurisdiction of the Court. No provision of the Geneva Agreement allows such action to be justified. Furthermore, Venezuela is one of the 119 States that does not acknowledge the mandatory jurisdiction of the Court.
10.- It is striking that, since 2015, Guyana, Exxon Mobil and their partners have taken as a fact a decision of the International Court of Justice in favor of their unilateral claim.
11.- The confessions made by Mr. Raphael G Trotman, Minister of the Interior and Natural Resources of Guyana during the 2015-2020 term, in his book titled “From Destiny to Prosperity”, make the sponsorship and financing of Exxon Mobil of Guyana’s unilateral action before the ICJ to validate the spurious 1899 award.
12.- Also undeniable are the pressures exerted by Guyana, with the support of the imperial diplomacy of the United States of America, on the General Secretariat of the UN so that the controversy was referred to the International Court of Justice, abandoning the obligation and practice of more than 60 years to achieve a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties, which is the true objective of the Geneva Agreement. It was never intended when said agreement was signed to re-examine the fraudulent award of 1899. It was an issue that had been resolved.
13.- Another element that discredits this body has been the complacent action of the International Court of Justice in the face of the genocide underway in Gaza, without demanding an immediate ceasefire from the Israeli government and benefiting the colonial powers. Tragically, they are the same hegemons who today instrumentalize the Court to appropriate the vast energy resources of our territory and destabilize Latin America and the Caribbean.
14.- The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela presented its solid historical truth, in the face of the claim of confiscation of the rights that have corresponded to it since its birth over the territory of Guayana Esequiba, in compliance with the very clear mandate of the Venezuelan people emanating from the referendum of December 03, 2023, and the express guidelines by the head of state.
15.- Venezuela will never allow itself to be extorted by a government subservient to the darkest foreign interests. The only possible path to the solution of the dispute over the territory of Guyana Esequiba is the return of Guyana to the negotiating table in order to make effective the practical, acceptable and satisfactory arrangement for both parties, to which they committed in the Geneva Agreement, the only binding and valid instrument between the parties to resolve this controversy.
16.- Guyana, under a false victimhood, is accompanied by its colonial boss, the United Kingdom, and the bloodiest war machine that humanity has known, the United States of America. Today Guyana, the Southern Command and the CIA, together with their partners from the global north, are preparing an aggression against Venezuela, constituting a true threat to the peace and stability of Latin America and the Caribbean.
17.- The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratifies its full commitment to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including its absolute and inalienable adherence to the Geneva Agreement.
18.- The whole Venezuela, in national unity, will assert its historical rights that cannot be postponed as brave sons and daughters of our Liberator Simón Bolívar. It’s the time for the truth.
The Sun of Venezuela is born in the Esequibo!”
Caracas, April 8, 2024
