The United States has denied Venezuela’s new assertion of the maritime border west of Guyana’s Essequibo Coast.
In a social media post, US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch tweeted tonight, “The United States has long called for a peaceful legal resolution to Guyana’s border dispute with Venezuela and we are repeating that call today.”
A US Diplomat had shared a similar post done by the Acting Assistant Secretary of the US Department of State’s Western Hemisphere Affairs Office a few minutes earlier.
Ambassador Kozak also reiterated that the United States supports the December 18, 2020 International Court of Justice (ICJ’s) ruling that it has jurisdiction over Guyana-Venezuela territorial border disputes, and noted that this is the “legal and peaceful way forward.”
“Maduro’s aggressive allegations do not change this, they simply disregard his neighbors and intrigue to the world. law, ”a State Department official posted.
Days before the World is scheduled to hold a case management hearing on Guyana’s bid for a final and binding settlement of the border debate with Venezuela, the Nicolás Maduro government on January 7, 2021 issued a new Decree to claim for itself, the land and the seabed. west of Essequibo Coast.
In a special address to the Nation on Saturday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali firmly refutes this new claim from Venezuela, calling it “legally void” that it will not be recognized by Guyana or any other state in the world.
According to Ali, Guyana has always chosen to resolve the issue within international law. He, therefore, described the Maduro government’s latest statements as “very upsetting” but made clear that they would not prevent Guyana from seeking a final binding decision in the ICJ.
“It is of great concern to me that, on January 7, the President of Venezuela issued a decree claiming that the sovereignty of Venezuela is a unique sovereign right to the waters and seabed off the coast of Guyana west of the Essequibo river.”
“I am reminded that Guyana, then British Guiana, was awarded sovereignty over this coast and the land to which it is attached in the arbitrary 1899 award, whose authenticity Guyana is confident will be maintained by the ICJ. unquestionably, ”asked the Guyanese Head of State.
Ali explained that Venezuela’s decree violates the basic principles of International law, including the fact that no nation can set its own borders, except by agreement with its neighbors or a ruling by the international court.