Diplomat Moncada Defends Venezuelan Historical Rights Over Guayana Esequiba
He also called again on Guyana to return to the negotiating table to achieve a satisfactory agreement for both parties.
On Tuesday, Venezuela made a new call to Guyana to return to the negotiating table with the aim of resolving the territorial dispute over the Essequibo region.
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“Venezuela reaffirms its solid commitment to defending its territorial integrity and national sovereignty over the Essequibo region, while making a new call to Guyana to return to the negotiating table to make effective the practical arrangement acceptable and satisfactory to both parties as committed to in the Geneva Agreement,” stated Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
The Bolivarian official made this comment during a meeting convened by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to discuss the next steps of the process initiated by Guyana before that institution.
“Venezuela reiterated its historic position of not recognizing the Court’s jurisdiction in the territorial dispute over the Essequibo region nor any decision it may make on this matter,” Moncada pointed out, clarifiying that his attendance at the ICJ meeting “in no way implies Venezuela’s consent to or recognition of this jurisdiction” in the Essequibo dispute.
“Venezuela has exercised and will continue to exercise the defense of historical truth in all spaces… The Geneva Agreement is the normative framework that must be adhered to in good faith by the parties in accordance with international law in order to end the territorial dispute through a practical, acceptable, and satisfactory arrangement for all parties,” he added.
For over 100 years, Venezuela and Guyana have maintained a dispute over the sovereignty of the Essequibo, a region of 160,000 square kilometers rich in natural resources and large oil reserves.
In 1966, during a meeting in Geneva, both nations signed an agreement to seek a peaceful solution to this dispute. However, in 2018, Guyana filed a claim before the International Court of Justice requesting validation of the 1899 arbitral award, which grants Guyana full control over the territory.
In 2022, tensions between Caracas and Georgetown increased after Guyana put 14 oil blocks in the Essequibo up for auction. Venezuela immediately rejected this, asserting that the actions of the Guyanese government evidenced a collusion between the United States and the multinational company ExxonMobil to strip the Bolivarian nation of its historical rights over the Essequibo territory.
Source: Sputnik
teleSUR/ JF
