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Venezuela objects to Guyana’s move for expanded continental shelf
Venezuela has formally restated its claims to western Essequibo, according to that country’s Foreign Ministry.
The statement stems from an application Guyana has placed before the United Nations (UN) to extend its continental shelf by a further 150 nautical miles.
The application is viewed as critical to Guyana, which has in recent times been aggressively exploring its waters in search of oil and would be more than happy to acquire new fishing grounds.
Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (right) and her Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, during a meeting last year with UN’s Secretary General, Ban-Ki-Moon.
According to the Venezuela government on Tuesday, it is rejecting the fact that the UN’s Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS) is even considering Guyana’s request.
This is because the UN’s Good Officer of the Secretary General is already looking into claim by Venezuela, the statement said.
The territorial claim between the two countries over the disputed area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana has been simmering for years now.
Following the announcement by Guyana last September that it has applied to the UN to extend its continental shelf, and amidst tensions in Venezuela, the two governments had met in neutral Trinidad and Tobago to agree on the way forward.
On Tuesday, Venezuela insisted it objected to the fact that the UN’s CLCS was handling the matter.
“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in accordance with the Joint Declaration signed by the Foreign Ministers of Venezuela and Guyana, in Port of Spain on September 30, 2011, fixed a position with the Secretary General of the United Nations regarding the information provided on September 6, 2011 by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and objected that such information is considered or qualified by the Commission.”
The Venezuelan government, in the statement, emphasized the “brotherly ties” that bind the peoples of Venezuela and Guyana and the excellent state of relations between the two governments, and said that the territory west of the Essequibo River is the subject of a territorial sovereignty dispute inherited from colonialism and subjected to the Geneva Agreement of 1966.
Venezuela also said that it remains committed to working with the UN’s Good Officer, Professor Norman Girvan, who was appointed to investigate the territorial dispute between the two countries and report to the Secretary General, Ban-ki-Moon.
Venezuela also said it had notified Guyana of its move and stance.
Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and her Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro had signed the Trinidad and Tobago agreement in September.
“Both Ministers recognize that the delimitation of maritime boundaries between the two States remains an unresolved issue and agreed that such a solution will require negotiations,” stressed the joint statement issued in Trinidad.
“Recognizing that the dispute concerning the Arbitral Award of 1899 on the border between Guyana and Venezuela continues to exist, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the Geneva Agreement and the Good Offices. They recognized that this dispute is a legacy from colonialism and should be resolved. The ministers informed the UN Secretary General’s Personal Representative Professor Norman Girvan about their conversations,” added the statement.
Since the announcement of Guyana’s intention to extend its continental shelf, there have been several statements from groups in Venezuela which felt that an age-old claim by that country on a large portion of Essequibo may be under threat.
The issue even had Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez warning that he will not allow “some sectors there (Guyana) or here (Venezuela) to create internal conflicts. We will not let that happen.”
One fringe group reportedly started its protests to whip up Venezuela’s sentiments by distributing maps of Venezuela showing Essequibo as part of that country’s territory.
The rumblings have been serious enough to persuade the two countries to meet.
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