OAS calls on Venezuela to release Guyanese fishing vessels, crews; insist they are in Guyana waters – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

Last updated Wednesday, 27 January 2021, 13:24 by Denis Chabrol

The American Provincial Organization (OAS) on Wednesday called on Venezuela to safely release the 11 members of the Guyanese crew and two fishing boats, even as that Western Hemispheric organization supported Guyana’s view that ships were in Guyana waters when the Navy Venezuelan intercepted a week. according to.

“The General Secretariat requires the prompt and safe release of Guyanese citizens to the Guyanese authorities, as well as the two detained vessels,” said the OAS.

The OAS called custody “illegal” because the ships were within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Guyana (EEZ) and described President Nicolas Maduro’s administration as a “dictatorship” that violated international law by unilaterally trying to extend the maritime border of Venezuela to the all. the waters off the Essequibo Region to the eastern shore of the Essequibo Region.

The OAS, apparently referring to the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to determine the validity of the 1899 Arbitration Award and settled the land border between Guyana and Venezuela, suggested that the process could not be substituted by issuing a decree to determine international borders between States.

“Any attempt to decriminalize this international legal process, such as the decree issued by the Maduro regime, is contrary to international law and standards, and has no legal significance or significance,” said the OAS.

The OAS said it reiterated its support for the rules and processes set by international law regarding ongoing territorial conflicts. “Resolution of the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana is a matter of international jurisdiction, and cannot be settled by unilateral action,” the OAS added.

In two statements issued so far after the ships were intercepted on January 21, Venezuela claimed it would not allow anyone to encroach on its sea space.

Venezuela’s latest acts of aggression against Guyana have followed the ICJ’s decision that it has jurisdiction to hear Guyana’s case. Venezuela claims that the UN court has no jurisdiction and that the two countries should resume bilateral negotiations, a process that Guyana says has not worked for 50 years.

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