UN calls for “moderation” from Guyana and Venezuela in territorial dispute

NY. The UN Security Council on Monday called for “moderation” in both Guyana and Venezuela, expressing concern about the “possible escalation of tensions” between the two countries over the territorial dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo. .

The members of the Security Council, of which Guyana has been a part since January, expressed in a statement their “concern about the possible escalation of tensions between Venezuela and Guyana.”

In the text, they call on “the parties to exercise maximum restraint, reminding them of their obligations to comply with the Provisional Measures Order issued by the International Court of Justice on December 1, 2023.”

The organization had asked Venezuela to refrain from any action that would modify the status quo in Essequibo, a territory of 160 thousand km2 administered by Georgetown, but claimed by Caracas when defending the limits of its time as a colony of Spain.

A few days later, however, Caracas organized a referendum on whether Essequibo should become part of Venezuela.

The Security Council, which held a closed-door meeting on the matter last week, also called on the parties to “resolve their differences through peaceful means,” underlining the importance of “maintaining regional peace and security.”

Members insisted on “the prohibition, by any party, of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another State,” as stipulated in the United Nations Charter.

The long-running dispute between Caracas and Georgetown over the Essequibo resurfaced after Guyana launched oil tenders in September 2023, followed by a referendum in Venezuela in December on whether the region should be annexed.

Georgetown claims it is sovereign over the “entirety” of its territory, arguing that the border, which dates back to British colonial times, was ratified in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris.

Caracas, for its part, considers that the 1966 Geneva Agreement, signed with the United Kingdom before Guyanese independence, lays the foundations for a negotiated settlement that must continue, and maintains that the Essequibo River must be the natural border, as It was in 1777 at the time of the Spanish empire.