Venezuela ratifies historical stance, reiterates it does not consent to ICJ's jurisdiction over Esequibo dispute - MPPRE

Venezuela ratifies historical stance, reiterates it does not consent to ICJ’s jurisdiction over Esequibo dispute

Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza shared on Tuesday, for the information of the Venezuelan people and the international community, the memorandum and other documents referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where it argues that this Court has no jurisdiction over the Essequibo dispute addressed in the unilateral application filed by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on March 29, 2018.

On his Twitter account @jaarreaza, the Venezuelan foreign minister ratified the historical stance of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in relation to the territorial dispute, and presented the arguments of the Venezuelan state to not consent to the ICJ’s jurisdiction to solve the Essequibo controversy.

“This is the Memorandum Venezuela referred to the International Court of Justice ratifying its historical stance and presenting the arguments why this Court lacks jurisdiction over the territorial Guyana’s Essequibo controversy,” Arreaza twitted.

In a second message, the Venezuelan diplomat reiterated the ICJ has no jurisdiction “to consider the absurd unilateral request” of Guyana regarding the validity of the Paris Arbitral Award of 1899, and that the Geneva Agreement is the only valid legal framework to reach a satisfactory settlement for both parties.

“Furthermore, the ICJ lacks jurisdiction to consider the absurd unilateral request filed by Guyana regarding the validity of the Paris Arbitral Award of 1899. The Geneva Agreement is the only valid legal framework to reach a satisfactory settlement for both parties,” he tweeted.

The memorandum referred by the Bolivarian Government presents, among other arguments, the Geneva Agreement endorsed by Venezuela, Great Britain and British Guiana on February 17, 1966, and  a chronology of its application until 2015, when David Granger took office and shifts away from the Good Offices developed until then by both countries in this territorial dispute.

The memorandum referred to the ICJ clearly proves that Guyana’s application “is based on a false foundation,” given that Article IV.2 of the Geneva Agreement, article on which Guyana bases its unilateral action, “indicates only that the Secretary-General may choose among the means of dispute settlement listed in Article 33 of the UN Charter. But the Court itself has observed (…) that Article 33 of the Charter is not a ‘specific provision of itself conferring compulsory jurisdiction on the Court’.”

In the memorandum conclusion, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela warns that “deciding on the validity of the 1899 Award will not serve this purpose. On the contrary, it will make its settlement more difficult.” Besides, it will involve the Court in a breach of the Geneva Agreement.

In a recent meeting held on Friday, June 26, by the Presidential Commission for the Defense of the Essequibo, Vice-president Delcy Rodríguez accused Guyana of avoiding the Geneva Agreement by trying to validate a “null and void” arbitral award, endorsed when it was not even a republic and which blesses the imperial looting of more than 159,000 square kilometers from Venezuela.

In a statement issued on June 20, the Bolivarian Government informed the Venezuelan people about its decision to not attend the virtual audience convened by the ICJ on June 30 on the unilateral application filed by Guyana since Venezuela does not consent to the ICJ’s jurisdiction over the Essequibo dispute.