C/wealth backs Guyana’s sovereignty in face of Venezuela’s territorial claim

Mar 27, 2015 News

The Commonwealth has restated its support for Guyana following repeated claims by neighbouring Venezuela for vast swaths of this country’s territory.

President Donald Ramotar

According to a statement from Government yesterday, the Commonwealth Secretariat spokesperson has disclosed that the body received an update on recent developments concerning the challenge to petroleum exploration within what Guyana maintains to be its exclusive economic zone.
“The spokesperson recalled the Commonwealth’s consistent and unequivocal support for the preservation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and said that Guyana’s concerns had been brought to the attention of all Commonwealth member states.”
The spokesperson added that the Commonwealth has remained engaged with the issue and looks forward to the settlement of differences bilaterally, through dialogue and cooperation.
The Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 53 independent and equal sovereign states, is home to 2.2 billion citizens. It includes some of the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries, spanning five regions.
The statement by the Commonwealth follows that of CARICOM which recently also supported Guyana.
CARICOM is calling for an early resolution of the controversy which has arisen as a result of Venezuela’s contention that the Arbitral award of 1899, which definitively settled the boundary between the two countries, is null and void.
Recently, Venezuela in a strongly worded statement in Kaieteur News warned that it is prepared to take

Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro

action following the recent start of oil-drilling activities by a US exploration firm, in what it considers disputed territory.
But the Government of Guyana stood firm, calling on its neighbour to be respectful of the age-old boundary award
Venezuela had warned US-owned ExxonMobil, one of the world’s biggest oil companies, not to drill for oil in what it considers its waters, offshore Georgetown. However, ExxonMobil insisted that it has an agreement with Guyana and not Venezuela. A drilling ship is in the concession and has reportedly started its activities in earnest.
Following the warning to ExxonMobil, Guyana sent a protest note to Venezuela stressing that the neighbouring country is stymieing the development of Guyana and its people, and that would be in contravention of international law.
The situation is a delicate one for Guyana and Venezuela, as the two countries are part

The ExxonMobil oil exploration ship that has sparked a resuscitation of an age-old territorial claim by Venezuela against Guyana.

of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) under which a number of lucrative trading deals have been reached.
In the case of Guyana, Venezuela has for almost a decade now been selling oil at concessionary rates and in return, this country has been supplying rice. A new deal was recently signed for almost 200,000 tonnes of rice and paddy, much to the relief of Guyana which would have been left holding a huge surplus had Venezuela backed down.
In October 2013, an armed Venezuelan navy vessel reportedly entered Guyana’s waters and detained a seismic survey vessel which was under contract with Anadarko.
Anadarko had a petroleum prospecting licence to search for hydrocarbons in the Roraima block offshore Guyana.
Venezuela took almost a three-quarter page advertisement in Kaieteur News with a statement on the issue of ExxonMobil.
“…the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a promoter of peace, unity and solidarity development as inherited patterns of behavior of our Liberator Simón Bolívar and the Eternal Commander Hugo Chávez, reserves the right to execute all actions in the diplomatic field and in accordance with international law, that might be necessary to defend and safeguard the sovereignty and independence of our country under the border dispute over the Essequibo Reclamation Zone.”
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ratifies its commitment to international peace and the unity of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, and ratifies the full exercise of its just claim to the Essequibo territory, including its coastline, and calls for national unity to all Venezuelans to defend the territorial integrity of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
In its response issued by Director General, Elisabeth Harper, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Guyana said it is extremely perplexed by Venezuela’s statement, which, while declaring as false Guyana’s statement, that country’s actions are aimed at stymieing Guyana’s development, “that same Government seeks to publicize those very objections to Guyana’s development initiatives – by also utilizing Guyana’s local media.”