Venezuela on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with its December 3 referendum as it seeks to gain ownership of the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo in Guyana.
“The referendum is an internal domestic matter and is not meant in any way to result in the annexation of the disputed territory,” International Law Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue told the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The position of the South American country came one day after attorney Paul Reichler outlined Georgetown’s position in his presentation to the ICJ that is conducting public hearings devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Guyana on October 30, 2023.
Guyana, in its request, had said that the Venezuela government, through its National Electoral Council had published a list of five questions that it intends to put before the people of Venezuela in a “Consultative Referendum” next month.
Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez told the Court that “nothing will prevent the referendum scheduled for the third of December from being held.
“No one can deny or divide this right finally, the state of Venezuela will not turn its back on what the people decide during the referendum,” she said, denying Guyana’s claims that Caracas was threatening peace and security in the region.
She accused Guyana of using the ICJ to interfere in her country’s internal affairs, adding, “nothing is above the constitution”.
Displaying a number of publications, claiming that Guyana has had a record of taking steps with the United States to “strengthen preparedness through tactical and operational integration”
Rodriguez said Venezuela’s appearance before the ICJ did not constitute the jurisdiction of that court but opted to present its arguments to counter “Without prejudice to our position, and doctrine on jurisdiction. We come before this court to defend independence, sovereignty and self-determination as the inalienable rights of our nation”.
The ICJ has already declared that it has jurisdiction to hear Guyana’s substantive case that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award of the land boundary with Venezuela. It will announce a date for its decision on Guyana’s request to block the referendum.
The Vice President said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has always been interested in dialogue and negotiation and that her country has never attacked any country or crossed borders to invade or annex territories.
In his arguments before the ICJ, Professor Mbengue said that the referendum and its domestic consequences are not and cannot be the subject of the proceedings before the court on the merits of the case.
He said Guyana’s requested measures could not be subsumed by the court’s eventual judgment on the merits.
“The court should, therefore, reject Guyana’s request for provisional measures,” he said, adding that none of the outcomes of the referendum would have any adverse impact on Guyana’s alleged title over the disputed territory, and even less create a risk of irreparable harm to Guyana.
Venezuela’s Agent to the ICJ, Ambassador Samuel Moncada accused Guyana of attempting to “silence the memory of a people who generation after generation” about their national geography. (Loop News)
