President Maduro proposes to the UN the activation of the Geneva Agreement - MPPRE

President Maduro proposes to the UN the activation of the Geneva Agreement

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, sends a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, containing a proposal for dialogue and activation of the Geneva Agreement, in the context of the existing territorial controversy between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

“We believe that now more than ever it is necessary to count on your good will, with your good offices in the broadest sense possible to restart with the urgency that this controversy merits the direct talks between Guyana and Venezuela, with the aim of advancing towards a peaceful and beneficial understanding to both parties”, says the Venezuelan Head of State to Guterres in this letter.

On December 18, 2020, Venezuela rejected the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) contrary to the spirit of the Geneva Agreement on Guayana Esequiba, and through a statement it ruled in relation to the unilateral claim filed by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the validity of the Arbitration Award of 1899.

At that time, Venezuela informed the national and international community that the Geneva Agreement is the only restrictive bilateral norm in force applicable to settle, through friendly negotiations, the territorial dispute; therefore, the foregoing denies judicial means incapable of reaching the practical and satisfactory arrangement that this Treaty imposes on both parties.

This Wednesday, the national dignitary ratifies this position and maintains that “Venezuela, its history and its future are deeply rooted in dialogue and peaceful and effective ways to overcome controversies.”

Among the aspects highlighted in the letter sent by the Venezuelan President to Guterres are “the various events that seek to influence the existing territorial dispute between the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its due resolution through peaceful negotiation as contemplated in the 1966 Geneva Agreement.”

In this letter, Venezuela also maintains: “It has never given its consent for the Court to hear about the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba, and much less to involve it in a unilateral action brought by Guayana, on a legal matter already overcome such as the Arbitration Award of 1899”, according to the document read by the national dignitary.