Venezuelan Parliament’s recent actions ‘highly regrettable’ – Min Benn

The government has expressed dismay over the recent actions of the Venezuelan National Assembly, which has passed legislation for Essequibo ─ a territory of Guyana ─ to be its newest state.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn on Friday said this is a clear violation of the principles of the Argyle Declaration agreed upon by the two countries in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2023.

On December 14, 2023, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held discussions on matters consequential to the territory controversy, agreeing that they both will not ‘directly or indirectly’ threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two states.

“We’re unhappy that the Government of Venezuela and its National Assembly just yesterday agreed that they will make Essequibo…Venezuelan territory. This is highly regrettable and it is in violation of the good faith discussions which were undertaken at Argyle and more latterly in Brazil,” Minister Benn said.

The home affairs minister was at the time addressing the opening ceremony of the high-level Regional Security System (RSS) Council of Ministers’ Meeting being held in Georgetown.

He added that Guyana will continue to rely on its international partners such as the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), and importantly, Brazil in the face of this new development.

The minister reminded that a final and binding resolution to the decades-old Guyana/Venezuela border controversy will be determined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“We of course expect that Guyana will be vindicated through that process but we note the risk, we note the challenges which are in Venezuela and we are concerned about the questions of instability, particularly in the presence of non-state actors in Eastern Venezuela, particularly on our borders,” the minister stated.

With 30,000 registered Venezuelans living in Guyana and supported by the government, Minister Benn said Guyana hopes the same will be replicated for its citizens living in the Spanish-speaking country.

Guyana has continuously rejected Venezuela’s accusation that the 1899 International Arbitral Tribunal Award was a nullity – the basis of its claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.  However, Venezuela has not presented a single shred of evidence to substantiate the same.

And so, Guyana is confident that the World Court will provide a final resolution to the longstanding controversy in its favour.

The government in 2018 filed legal proceedings in the world court to ascertain the validity of the 1899 award, in keeping with the 1966 Geneva Agreement.