Tensions between Venezuela and Guyana are rising more and more clearly. Last weekend, a Venezuelan military vessel intercepted and captured two Guyanese fishing vessels alleging that the vessels were in their territorial waters. Which Guyana rejected arguing that the two ships operated within its jurisdiction.
The incident is the latest chapter in a conflict of more than 100 years over the territory of Exhaustive, Which represents two-thirds of Guyana, covers 159,000 square kilometers and that Venezuela puts on all its maps as ‘Territory in Claim’. And no one thinks the issue of fishermen has been casual.
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Things between the two nations have been heating up since December 18th. On that day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared itself competent to judge the validity of an 1899 arbitration award in Paris, which established the border between the two countries, but which Venezuela has considered “null and void.” , after an American lawyer who was part of Venezuela’s defense in this process ordered that, after his death, a letter be made public stating that the Laude de Paris was arranged for the benefit of the British. Guyana was officially an English colony between 1814 and 1966, when it conquered its independence.
And while Guyana’s president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, called the ICJ’s decision a “great moment” and a “victory of the rule of law”, Venezuela called it “infamous” and reiterated the its call for the controversy to be channeled “amicably through direct negotiations with Guyana,” claiming the 1966 Geneva Agreement. In this pact, the United Kingdom and Venezuela agreed that Guyanese and Venezuelan representatives would negotiate a definitive border settlement in Guyana. a maximum term of four years. Solution that never came.
“Venezuela has never given its consent for the Court to hear the territorial dispute over Guyana Esequiba, much less to involve it in a unilateral action brought by Guyana on a legal issue already overcome such as the arbitral award of 1899“, Wrote the questioned Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, on January 7, in a letter he sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to request his mediation in the reactivation of talks with Guyana.
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Venezuela has never given its consent for the Court to hear about the territorial dispute over Guyana Esequiba
But to insist on not knowing the jurisdiction of the Court in the case is, for experts like Emilio Figueredo, who by 12 years was ambassador of Venezuela before the United Nations for the application of the Agreement of Geneva of 1966, a “nonsense “, since by signing the said agreement, Venezuela accepted the possible application of Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations, which establishes as a means for the settlement of disputes negotiation, investigation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, recourse to regional bodies or agreements or other peaceful means.
The fact is that by experts like Sadio Garavini van Torn, who was Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana, it has already been reached what constitutes the best scenario for Guyana. “The other settlement mechanisms were much better (for Venezuela) than going to court,” says this specialist.
The Venezuelan regime has insisted that the decision of the ICJ it is “vitiated by nullity” due to “procedural flaws and background variables”.
“We must remain in the Geneva agreement to seek a way out through direct dialogue and peaceful instruments for resolving this conflict,” said Hermann Escarrà, who recently chaired the meeting. installed Special Commission for the Defense of Guyana Esequiba (as it is also known in this territory) and the Territorial Sovereignty of Chavista Parliament.
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Experts consulted by EL TEMPS, however, insist that Venezuela must give battle to the ICJ. And now I would have a little more time to prepare, because the audience that was scheduled for last Monday was postponed to February 26, after the regime of Nicolás Maduro insisted on its postponement, although it did not get it until April.
“Venezuela must defend itself with what it has (…) we must prepare as best we can so that our arguments are heard in court,” insisted Garavini, who believes that a team of lawyers must be articulated. and other specialists who have worked on the subject.
In any case, Venezuela’s arguments in court, according to internationalist Figueredo, would be “essentially historical”; and the chances of him winning, nil. “If you say it was a corrupt act, where is the evidence? (The ICJ) ruled that the award is valid, I have no doubt,” lamented Figueredo. Venezuela, however, and in his opinion, could at least “save face.”
third parties involved
New actors have taken part in the dispute in this new stage. The United States, which for many years remained neutral, has joined the position of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in supporting the ICJ to adopt and resolve the dispute.
“The problems between Guyana and Venezuela should be resolved peacefully, but we also believe that where (these) these problems should be resolved is (in) the International Court of Justice,” he said in a recent interview with EL TEMPS the ambassador for the US Foreign Office. UU. for Venezuela, James Story.
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In previous weeks, in conjunction with Guyana, USA. UU. It carried out military exercises in front of the Guyanese coasts, which from Venezuela was seen like a “provocation” and “threat”. The head of the US Southern Command. USA, Craig Faller, visited this country as part of them and signed an agreement with the Chief of Staff of the Defense Force, Godfrey Bess, though clarified that his country was not interested in setting up a military base there.
The interest of EE. UU. In Guyana, according to Garavini, it was not only due to the confrontation with the Venezuelan regime, but also to the importance that this country is acquiring. By 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that its economy would grow at an annual rate of 86 percent, so it was expected to become the fastest growing economy in the world.
The 160,000 square kilometers of Esequibo territory are rich in gold, oil, diamonds and coltan, among other natural riches. In fact, on May 20, 2015, Exxon Mobil – which has a $ 200 million concession to explore and extract crude oil in Guyana – announced that it had discovered a deposit in a well located in a basin between Guyana and Suriname. which, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is the second largest area in the world with unexplored crude.
Venezuela has insisted that the block is in disputed waters and that Guyana cannot authorize explorations or economic exploitation there, or in the Esequibo, because these are disputed areas. “There are a lot of interests at stake that are going to increase,” Garavini warned.
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The Venezuelan regime, meanwhile, has looked to its traditional allies. Last week, its Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrí López, reported a meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Venezuela, Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, in which they spoke about military cooperation projects between the two nations and the Venezuela’s “historic right” over the Esequibo.
All this accumulates in the case of the demand of the Guyanese and demonstrates the inconsistency of Venezuela in the matter
Russia, however, and in the opinion of the specialists consulted, would have limited capacity to act in the Western Hemisphere, if there was a confrontation, something which, however, they rule out. “Guyana has the support, at the moment, of Cuba, China, Brazil and most of the Non-Aligned,” Figueredo stressed.
The mistakes of Chavismo
How did you get to this point? “Chávez certainly left the issue of Exequibo in oblivion. The reasons were the megalomania of believing a world leader and particularly hemispheric and his interest in the votes and support of the Caribbean,” in l ‘Organization of American states and other instances,’ explains Garavini, who recalls two episodes of his management. The first, in 2004, when as part of a visit to Georgetown he said he would not oppose projects in the Esequibo so that they would be for the benefit of its inhabitants.
“At that time, Chávez broke with the tradition of the entire era of the Civil Republic (…) one of the few mechanisms to pressure Guyana to negotiate was that we were unaware of any investment by transnationals in the Esequibo territory, and also obviously in the marine and underwater areas it projects, ”Garavini noted.
The second came in February 2007, when Chávez said that the reactivation, in 1962, of the Venezuelan claim was due to the fact that the United States of John F. Kennedy pressured the then Venezuelan President, Rómulo Betancourt , to seek a destabilization of the left-wing government of Cheddi Jagan in Guyana.
For Garavini, this is the “most serious expression” which he gave on the subject, therefore, in his judgment and that of other experts, took away legitimacy from the claim.
Guyana has the support, at this time, of Cuba, China, Brazil and most of the Non-Aligned
“All this accumulates in the case of the demand of the Guyanese and demonstrates the inconsistency of Venezuela in the matter,” Figueredo said.
With Maduro in power to begin another stage in the conflict. In 2013, Guyana began giving oil concessions to transnational companies in marine and submarine areas it considers its own, and began boat trips to conduct seismic research.
One of them, Teknik Perdana, was arrested by Venezuelan authorities that year, which set off alarms in the government of Guyana.
At the end of 2013, the then Chancellor of the country, Carolyn Rodríguez-Birkett, said that more than 20 years had passed since a good trade process, which began in 1989, without signs of progress and other options needed to be reviewed, pointing to arbitration and the ICJ as alternatives.
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The Court, in fact, had always been Guyana’s favorite option. “Since 1976, Guyana’s preferred mechanism has been to go to the ICJ to resolve the issue, for obvious reasons: because Guyana’s position on the issue is the validity or otherwise of the 1899 award. A strictly legal issue.” Garavini recalled. Will Maduro accept a final ICJ ruling? Unlikely.
ANDREINA ITRIAGO
EL TEMPS correspondent
Caracas