GEORGETOWN (CMC) – The Guyana government says it “is extremely perplexed” by the decision of the Venezuela government to use the media here to publicise its opposition to the allegations by Georgetown that Caracas is seeking to stymie the development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said while a communiqué appearing in a local newspaper mentions the fact that leaders from both countries have underscored the “necessity of deepening cooperation” between Guyana and Venezuela, “it fails to recognise that those efforts have in fact been defeated by Venezuela’s threats and actions against investors wishing to operate and those already operating in Guyana, including by the very Communiqué under reference.
“The premise of Venezuela’s objections continues to be its spurious and illegal claim to Guyana’s territory. The land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was permanently and definitively delimited on October 3, 1899 pursuant to the Treaty of Washington of February 2, 1897. The view expressed in the Communiqué under reference that there is a territorial dispute “inherited from British colonialism” is therefore patently false,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
It said as a sovereign State, empowered under international law to exercise sovereign rights over its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, “Guyana has full and unfettered authority to unilaterally explore – with or without partners – and exploit the living and non-living resources within its jurisdiction. “Any act or objection to the exercise of such jurisdiction is contrary to international law – both codified and customary international law.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that while it is a fact that the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Guyana and Venezuela remains an outstanding matter, “it is pellucid that there are maritime spaces that can legitimately belong to only one of the two States.
“That is fully recognised under both customary and codified international law. Venezuela’s vain effort to link its spurious and illegal claim to Guyana’s Essequibo to matters related to the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone of Guyana within the context of the Geneva Agreement of February 17, 1966 therefore has no legal basis.
“The fact is that the Geneva Agreement does not relate to a boundary or territorial dispute, but to a unilateral and unsubstantiated claim by Venezuela that the Arbitral Award of 1899 is null and void,” the statement said, adding “ Guyana completely rejects this effort to conflate two separate matters within the context of the Geneva Agreement.”
Earlier this month, Guyana warned Venezuela to refrain from interfering in offshore oil exploration efforts.
Caracas has objected to the planned offshore exploration by US company Exxon, but Georgetown said the warning follows communication from Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry to the Country Manager of Esso Exploration and production Guyana Limited, objecting to the dispatch of a rig to proceed with the exploration of an oil well.
Exxon Mobil plans to invest US$200 million in drilling offshore Guyana in the Liza field, which part of the Stabroek Block.
