GEORGETOWN (CMC):
France became the latest country on Monday to express concern about Venezuela’s military incursion into Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone, urging Caracas to avoid a repeat of such action in violation of the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2023.
“France calls on Venezuela to respect Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the principles of international law and the order of the International Court of Justice of December 1, 2023 asking it to refrain from any unilateral action likely to change the situation that currently prevails off Essequibo,” Paris said in a statement.
Over the weekend, Guyana alerted the international community to the presence of a Venezuelan naval vessel that was near its oil assets for about four hours.
Since then, the United States, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS) have all called on Venezuela to not engage in further provocation by threatening ExxonMobil’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.
Washington has warned Venezuela that there would be “consequences for the Maduro regime” if Caracas continues to engage in such action, as it reaffirmed its support for Guyana’s territorial integrity and the 1899 Arbitral Award.
‘BASELESS REMARKS’
But Venezuela has dismissed comments made by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, saying it “categorically repudiates the baseless remarks” of the country’s leader, whom it said “lies brazenly when he claims that units of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela are violating the maritime territory of Guyana”.
Caracas said that Ali is “hiding the fact that those waters do not form part of Guyanese territory, since it is a maritime zone pending delimitation in accordance with international law”.
The Venezuelan Offshore Patrol vessel contacted the FPSO Prosperity and other vessels in the Stabroek Block by radio messages, informing that they were in Venezuelan waters that were subject to dispute with Guyana.
The two countries are before the ICJ concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899.
The case, which was filed by Guyana in March 2018, seeks the court’s decision on the validity of the Arbitral Award which finally determined the land boundary between the two countries. The court has already ruled that it has jurisdiction over the controversy and will decide the issue on the merits of the case.
In January, the Guyana government expressed “grave concern” over what it claimed to have been “recent actions and statements” by the Venezuela government that constitute ”clear violations” of the Argyle Agreement and the binding order of the ICJ, both of which came into effect in December 2023.
Georgetown recalled that the Argyle Agreement, signed in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2023 in the presence of regional and international interlocutors, unequivocally commits Guyana and Venezuela to refrain from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from the territorial controversy between the two states.
It said that this includes refraining from actions that could aggravate tensions or alter the current situation in the disputed territory, pending resolution in accordance with international law.
