The tension between Venezuela and Guyana is becoming increasingly apparent. Last weekend, a Venezuelan military vessel intercepted and captured two Guyanese fishing boats claiming the vessels were in territorial waters. Which Guyana rejected, arguing that both ships were operating within its jurisdiction.
The incident is the latest chapter in more than 100 years of conflict over the territory of Esequibo, which represents two-thirds of Guyana, it covers 159,000 square kilometers and which places Venezuela on all its maps as ‘Territory in Reclamation’. And no one thinks the fishing boats issue was accidental.
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Things between the two countries have been heating up since December 18. On that day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared itself competent to review the validity of an 1899 arbitral award in Paris, which formed the border between the two countries, but which Venezuela has considered “null and void,” after an American lawyer. who was part of the defense of Venezuela in that process, ordered a letter to be released after his death stating that the Paris Award was drawn up for the benefit of the British. Guyana was officially an English colony between 1814 and 1966, when it gained independence.
And while Guyana’s president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, called the ICJ’s decision a “great moment” and a “rule of law victory,” Venezuela called it “infamous” and reiterated its call to resolve the controversy. amicably through direct negotiations with Guyana, “according to the 1966 Geneva Agreement. In that pact, the United Kingdom and Venezuela agreed that Guyanese and Venezuelan representatives would negotiate a final border solution within a maximum period of four years. never came.
“Venezuela has never allowed the Court to take note of the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba, much less to involve it in a unilateral action brought by Guyana on a legal issue that has already been resolved, such as the 1899 Arbitration Award.The interviewed Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, wrote on January 7 in a letter sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, asking for his mediation in reactivating the talks with Guyana.
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Venezuela has never authorized the Court to hear the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba
But insisting on disregarding the jurisdiction of the Court in the case is “ nonsense ” to experts such as Emilio Figueredo, who was Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations for 12 years for the application of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, for by signing the said agreement, Venezuela accepted the ultimate application of Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations, which establishes as a means of resolving disputes negotiation, investigation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, court settlement, recourse to regional organizations or agreements, or other peaceful means.
The fact is, experts like Sadio Garavini di Turno, who was Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana, have already figured out the best scenario for Guyana. “The other resolution mechanisms were much better (for Venezuela) than going to court,” said this specialist.
The Venezuelan regime has pushed for the ICJ’s decision It is “invalid” because of “procedural errors and background variables.”
“We must remain in the Geneva Agreement to find a way out through direct dialogue and peaceful instruments to resolve this conflict,” said Deputy Hermann Escarrá, Chairman of the recently established Special Commission for Defense. De la Guayana Esequiba (as this area is also known) and the territorial sovereignty of the Chavista parliament.
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However, the experts consulted by EL TIEMPO insist that Venezuela must fight in the ICJ. And now he would have a little more time to prepare for the audience that was Scheduled for last Monday, it was postponed to February 26, after the Nicolás Maduro regime pushed for a postponement, although it wouldn’t happen until April.
“Venezuela must defend itself with what it has (…) we must prepare as best we can so that our arguments are heard in court,” emphasized Garavini, who believes a team of lawyers and other specialists who have worked on the theme .
In any event, Venezuela’s arguments before the Court would, according to the internationalist Figueredo, be “essentially historical”; and the chance of him winning is nil. If you say it was a corrupt act, where is the evidence? (The ICJ) is going to decide that the award is valid, I have no doubts about that ”, Figueredo complained. However, Venezuela could, in his opinion, at least ‘save face’.
Third parties involved
New actors have taken part in the dispute in this new phase. The United States, which remained neutral for years, has joined the position of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) by supporting the ICJ to accept and resolve the dispute.
“The issues between Guyana and Venezuela need to be resolved peacefully, but we also believe that where (they) need to be resolved is (in) the International Court of Justice,” said in a recent interview with EL TIEMPO, the external ambassador. US Office for Venezuela, James Story.
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In previous weeks, the US, along with Guyana, conducted military exercises off the Guyanese coast, which Venezuela saw as a “provocation” and “threat”. The head of the US Southern Command, Craig Faller, visited this country as part of this and signed an agreement with the Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces, Godfrey Bess, although he made it clear that his country was not interested in installing a military base there.
The American interest in Guyana, according to Garavini, is not only due to the confrontation with the Venezuelan regime, but also to the importance that this country is acquiring. By 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that its economy would grow at 86 percent per year, which is expected to become the fastest growing economy in the world.
The 160,000 square kilometers of Essequibo’s territory are rich in gold, oil, diamonds and coltan, among other natural resources. In fact, Exxon Mobil – which has a $ 200 million concession to explore and extract crude oil in Guyana – announced on May 20, 2015 that it had discovered a reservoir in a well in a catchment area between Guyana and Suriname that, according to the United States Geological Survey, it is the second largest area in the world with untapped oil.
Venezuela has insisted that the bloc is in disputed waters and that Guyana cannot allow exploration or economic exploitation there or in the Essequibo because they are disputed areas. “There are many stakes at stake that will grow,” Garavini warned.
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The Venezuelan regime, meanwhile, has looked to its traditional allies. Last week, his Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, reported on a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Venezuela, Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, in which they discussed military cooperation projects between the two nations and Venezuela’s “historic right” on the Essequibo.
All this piles up in the case of Guyanese demand and shows Venezuela’s inconsistency in the case
However, Russia, and in the opinion of the specialists consulted, would have a limited capacity to act in the Western Hemisphere should there be a confrontation, something they ignore. “Guyana currently has the support of Cuba, China, Brazil and the majority of the non-aligned,” Figueredo said.
Chavismo’s mistakes
How did you get to this point? “Chávez has undoubtedly forgotten about the Essequibo issue. The reasons were the megalomania of seeing himself as a world leader and in particular hemispherical leader and his interest in the voices and support of the Caribbean ”, in the Organization of American States and other examples, explains Garavini, who spent two episodes of his reign. The first, in 2004, when, as part of a visit to Georgetown, he said he would not oppose projects in the Essequibo as long as they were in the interest of the residents.
“At that time, Chávez broke with the tradition of the entire Civil Republic era (…) one of the few mechanisms to pressure Guyana to negotiate was that we were not aware of any investment by transnational corporations in it. area of Essequibo, and of course in the marine and submarine project areas it projects, ”noted Garavini.
The second came in February 2007, when Chávez said the reactivation, in 1962, of the Venezuelan claim was due to John F. Kennedy’s United States pressuring then Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt, to create a Destabilization of the left-wing government of Cheddi Jagan in Guyana.
For Garavini it is the ‘most serious expression’ that he gave on the subject because in his opinion and that of other experts it took away the legitimacy of the claim.
Guyana currently has the support of Cuba, China, Brazil and the majority of the non-aligned
“All of this is piling up in the case of the Guyanese lawsuit and shows Venezuela’s inconsistency in the case,” Figueredo said.
With Maduro in power, a new phase in the conflict began. In 2013, Guyana began to issue oil concessions to transnational corporations in marine and underwater areas that it considers its property, and began shipping voyages to conduct seismic surveys.
One of them, the Teknik Perdana, was detained that year by the Venezuelan authorities, who raised the alarm in Guyana’s government.
In late 2013, the country’s then Secretary of State, Carolyn Rodríguez-Birkett, said that more than 20 years had passed through a good office process that began in 1989, no signs of progress and that other options had to be reviewed, with reference to arbitration and the ICJ as alternatives.
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In fact, the Court had always been Guyana’s favored option. “Since 1976, the mechanism of choice for Guyana to go to the ICJ to resolve the issue has been, for obvious reasons: because Guyana’s position on the issue is the validity or not of the 1899 award. A strictly legal matter” , Garavini recalls. Does Maduro accept a final ruling from the ICJ? Unlikely.
ANDREINA ITRIAGO
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Caracas