Venezuela is not going to cede any space of its territory

The deputy of the National Assembly (AN), with an official majority, Hermann Escarrá, spoke about the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Essequibo case in a meeting with the political party “Podemos”, in which he indicated that Venezuela is not going to cede any space of its territory.

During the forum “Our Guyana Esequiba to the national leadership and militancy of the Podemos party”, which took place at the Hotel Coliseo, in Caracas, the president of the Special Commission for the Defense of the Territory of Guyana Esequiba and Territorial Sovereignty announced that The ICJ announced that on April 8, 2024, Venezuela must finally respond in the substantive debate on the rights to that territory.

Firstly, pointed out that the issue of the Essequibo is not only legal, “It is economic, it is social, military and international”and stressed that they are “Almost 160,000 square kilometers that were deprived of Venezuela, which today must be faced at the headquarters of the ICJ, among others.”

He explained that, before going to the ICJ, it was necessary to follow the guidelines of the Geneva treaty – an agreement that seeks to end the conflict over the dispute – and “If it is not achieved through these means, then, the Secretary General of the United Nations is empowered to progressively and exhausting all instances of Article 33 of the United Nations Charter lead both parties to a solution.” and underlines that “if this is not achieved, then it would be necessary to go to the International Court of Justice.”

However, the deputy -who is also a lawyer and professor- said that António Guterres, UN Secretary General, skipped the steps y “Take the International Court of Justice at once and tell them: ‘you have jurisdiction and enter the decision for Guyana’s unilateral lawsuit now.'”

In this sense, warned that “From a three-round fight we have lost two in the ring, We have lost the one from 2018 and the one from April 6 right now, we have one left, the one from 2024, that does not mean that we will not win, what I am saying is that the moment is serious, delicate, we can no longer be fooled that this (ICJ) is the cradle of equity and justice”.

took advantage the opportunity to make a call to the national union in defense of the Essequibo Territory. “This is not the time to criticize, criticism can be done later. We are going to make history without a doubt. This is the moment for us to be very united in the defense of our territory”.

“We are playing the dissolution of the Republic. If we allow a weak movement to take away a millimeter of our territory, it will have consequences, including the dissolution of the Republic.”, said Escarrá.

In this regard, he stated that Venezuela has evidence and documents that confirm the inheritance of Guayana Esequiba, since remote years. “After reviewing maps, statements from all national and international sectors, Venezuela should not fear what has to do with their tests, with their titles; Venezuela has proof.

ICJ Judgment

On April 6 of this year, the ICJ issued a judgment against Venezuela by rejecting the preliminary objection presented by the administration of Nicolás Maduro on the border dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo territory.

“The objection by Venezuela must be rejected (…) by 14 votes to 1, it rejects the preliminary objection presented by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”, said Judge and ICJ President Joan Donoghue. “By 14 votes to 1, it determines that it can decide on the merits of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”, continuous.

After the sentence, Venezuela assured that it “does not recognize” this judicial mechanism as a means of resolving the dispute and indicated that the Geneva Agreement is the “only valid instrument” to resolve the territorial dispute.

For his part, Guyana awaits the court to judge the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award -which is considered null and void by Venezuela- in which it granted the territory to the United Kingdom and Guyana, when it was still a colony.

It is worth remembering that, in 2018 Guyana unilaterally went to the ICJ, to ask to resolve the dispute. In 2020, the ICJ declared itself “competent” to examine the border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo territory.