…Officer-in-Charge of the Venezuelan Embassy to be summoned
By Svetlana Marshall
Guyana’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Irfaan Ali has rejected a decree by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on January 7 claiming exclusive sovereign rights in the waters and seabed adjacent to Guyana’s coast, west of the Essequibo River.
“I remind that sovereignty over this coast, and the land territory to which it is attached, were awarded to Guyana (then British Guiana) in the 1899 Arbitral Award, whose validity and legally binding character Guyana is confident the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will uphold unequivocally,” President Ali said in an address to the nation on Saturday afternoon.
The Guyanese Head of State said by decreeing that the seas adjacent to this territory belong to Venezuela, the Spanish speaking country has violated at least two fundamental principles of international law.
“The first violation is that no State can unilaterally determine its international boundaries, whether they are land boundaries or maritime boundaries. The fixing of an international boundary under international law can only result from an agreement between neighbouring States, or a binding determination by an international court or arbitral tribunal. Therefore, this attempt by Venezuela to attempt, unilaterally, to fix both its land and maritime boundaries with Guyana is a legal nullity, which cannot, and will not, be respected by any other State in the world, including Guyana,” President Ali explained.
Secondly, he said the decree is in breach of well-established rules of international law, which state that “the land dominates the sea”.
“This means that sovereignty, and sovereign rights in the sea and seabed, emanate from title to the land that forms the coast to which those seas and seabed are adjacent. Since Guyana is sovereign over the coast west of the Essequibo River, as far as Punta Playa, it follows, consequently, that only Guyana can enjoy sovereignty and exclusive sovereign rights over the adjacent sea and seabed,” President Ali explained.
The Head of State reminded that the issue regarding the 1899 Arbitral Award, which legally established the location of the land boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela, is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and for which, the Court, on December 18, 2020, ruled that it has jurisdiction to determine the validity of the award. President Ali said Guyana is confident that the Court will resolve the issue in its favour.
The Guyanese President said it is also regrettable that President Maduro, and Venezuela by extension, have opted to reject the decision of the ICJ that it has jurisdiction to adjudicate over the matter. But President Ali made it clear that under international law, the Court’s decision, which was adopted by an overwhelming majority of its judges, is final and legally binding on both Guyana and Venezuela.
“To be clear, I point out the following two things: One, it has long been a fundamental principle of international law that an international court, including the ICJ, has the competence to determine its own jurisdiction, as the ICJ did on December 18th, 2020. Two, the United Nations Charter obligates all Member States to comply with their obligations under international law, including as determined by the ICJ,” President Ali stated.
As such, he said Venezuela does not have the “right” to “reject” the Court’s binding decision, and its government should reconsider its position and participate in the case.
“While I express that sincere hope, I also want to be clear that should Venezuela choose to boycott the ICJ’s proceedings, it will not deter nor delay the Court from adjudicating the case. The rules of the Court expressly provide that the deliberate absence of one of the parties shall not prevent it from deciding a case,” President stated.
While a local newspaper has attributed to President Maduro a tweet in which he is alleged to have “vowed to reconquer the Essequibo,” President Ali said investigations done thus far have not confirm the claim.
Nonetheless, given the decree issued by President Maduro, President Ali has ordered his Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, to summon the Officer-in-Charge of the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown to the Foreign Ministry to express Guyana’s deep concern.
“The Officer-in-Charge has been told to convey to the Venezuelan authorities in Caracas, that, in accordance with international law, and is assertion of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Guyana rejects entirely the decree issued by President Maduro,” President Ali disclosed.
Guyana, he said, will continue on the path of peaceful resolution of this matter in keeping with international law and the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
The International Community, including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and countries in the Americas have been urged to take note of the danger to international peace and security that is being threatened by Venezuela’s decree.
