Weeks after United States officials recently met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Guyana has been given assurances that its territorial integrity was not up for discussion and it will be apprised of discussions at future meetings.
This is according to Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo who hosted a press conference at the Office of the President on Friday after he met with United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Caribbean and Haiti Barbara Feinstein.
“We agreed that we will share more information so that when these meetings take place between the different parties- that is, possibly US and Venezuela, we’re assured first of all that Guyana did not come up and that our sovereignty will not be part of any such discussion,” the Vice President said.
He also said that Guyana and the US agreed to share more information about what takes place in future discussions.
He did not make reference to the engagement between US officials and the Venezuelan government earlier this month. That engagement was, however, the highest-level US visit to the Venezuelan government in years.
Importantly, Jagdeo said that assurances given on the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy, that have been communicated publicly, were reiterated at the meeting with the visiting official.
The US has championed a legal, peaceful resolution to the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, with officials supporting the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s decision that it has jurisdiction to rule on this controversy.
Guyana remains steadfast in ensuring there is a juridical settlement to the border controversy with Venezuela. On March 8, Guyana submitted its Memorial on the Merits of its case against Venezuela to the ICJ in the Hague.
The submission forms part of the requirement by the Court following its December 18, 2020, decision that confirmed the Court’s jurisdiction to decide on the merits of Guyana’s claims.
The matter is before the Court pursuant to the decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, by which the parties conferred upon the Secretary General the authority to determine the means by which the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela shall be settled.
Venezuela is maintaining a claim to some 70 per cent of Guyana’s land – the Essequibo region – including Guyana’s offshore oil reserves, arguing that the 1899 agreement, which determined the boundaries between the two countries is null and void.
Guyana is, however, seeking a decision that the Arbitral Award of 1899 determining the boundary is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and that the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement demarcating it is the lawful boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.
Be careful Mr Jagdeo, when you pet a pit viper, you are likely to get bitten. Look at all the nations who have been victims to the US vipers