La Corte de La Haya inicia audiencias por demanda de Guyana para detener el referéndum sobre el Esequibo en Venezuela
Vicepresidenta Delcy Rodríguez llegó a La Haya para participar en audiencia de la CIJ sobre el Esequibo
Este lunes, la vicepresidenta de la República, Delcy Rodríguez llegó a La Haya para participar en la audiencia de la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ), sobre el Esequibo, por lo que aprovechó la oportunidad para enviar un mensaje en donde señala que defenderá los derechos de Venezuela sobre este territorio en disputa con Guyana.
Al mismo tiempo enfatizó que el 3 de diciembre se realizará el referéndum consultivo en defensa de la Guayana Esequiba.
«Llegamos a La Haya, para defender a Venezuela, nuestros derechos históricos y decirle al mundo que nada ni nadie va detener que este 3 de diciembre se realice en Venezuela el referéndum consultivo, en la defensa de la Guayana Esequiba. Así que con mucha fuerza, acompañada con la voluntad del pueblo como un solo país. Aquí estamos en La Haya para defender a la Guayana Esequiba, el 3 de diciembre todos a votar por en el referéndum consultivo», dijo Rodríguez a través de las redes sociales.
“Nada, ni nadie va a detener que en Venezuela el 3D se realice el referéndum consultivo”, así lo afirmó la Vicepresidenta @delcyrodriguezv a su llegada a La Haya para defender los derechos históricos de Venezuela sobre la Guayana Esequiba pic.twitter.com/pKsMcTxi8o
— Julio Riobó VTV (@JRioboVTV) November 13, 2023
Cabe recordar que Guyana acudió a la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ) para que anulara el referéndum consultivo que se realizará en Venezuela el próximo 3 de diciembre en defensa del Esequibo, y el cual marcará las acciones a seguir.
Venezuelan border controversy: ICJ to hear Guyana’s case to block Venezuela’s referendum today
Guyana will today formally put forward its case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest court, in a bid to halt Venezuela’s referendum that attempts to annex Essequibo, which is set for December 3, 2023.
The delegation from Guyana will present oral arguments from 10:00h to 11:30h (The Hague time) today at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the seat of the court. Venezuela’s delegation will present its oral arguments on Wednesday at the same time.
After abiding by the 1899 Arbitral Award for almost half a century, Venezuela in 1962 claimed that the Essequibo area of Guyana belonged inside its borders. Guyana has noted that the boundary between the then-colony of British Guiana and Venezuela was determined by the Arbitral Award as a “full” and “final” settlement.
Tensions further heated up after ExxonMobil found oil in Essequibo. In 2018, UN Secretary General António Guterres, under the terms of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, chose the ICJ as the means to be used for the solution of the controversy.
In its most recent application to the ICJ, Guyana condemned what it described as “Venezuela’s sinister plan for seizing Guyanese territory” and asked the ICJ to provide urgent protection. It is requesting an order from the ICJ prohibiting Venezuela from carrying out the referendum as planned.
Guyana highlighted that the sole goal of the referendum was “to obtain responses that would support Venezuela’s decision to abandon” the ICJ proceedings in order “to formally annex and integrate” Essequibo into its territory. The referendum proposes giving Venezuelan citizenship to the residents of an annexed Essequibo.
In April 2022, the ICJ ruled it had jurisdiction over the long-running border controversy between the South American nations. In so doing, it rejected Venezuela’s argument that the United Kingdom (UK) should be involved as Guyana was a British colony in 1899.
Hearings on the case’s merits are the next stage and a final decision might not come for years.
Based on a 10-year-old census, the Essequibo area accounts for almost two-thirds of Guyana with around 125,000 of its 800,000 inhabitants living there.
Only a few days ago, María Machado, widely considered the presidential frontrunner in Venezuela’s upcoming 2024 electoral race, publicly denounced the upcoming December 3 referendum and urged the Nicolás Maduro regime to adhere to the ICJ’s resolution of the border controversy with Guyana.
The Opposition politician, who is a former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, was recently interviewed by Miami-based online publication Infobae. During that interview, Machado was asked her thoughts on the December 3 Venezuelan referendum that the Maduro regime is using to get a mandate to illegally annex Essequibo.
Not only did Machado make it clear that the referendum does more harm than good for Venezuela, but she also denounced the Maduro regime’s actions as irresponsible and urged them to focus on preparing a proper defence for its case before the ICJ, where the border controversy awaits a final and binding settlement.
“I’m not going to speculate what they’re looking for. What I can tell you is that this does not help the defence of Essequibo and the territorial integrity of Venezuela. On the contrary, once again, the regime’s irresponsible actions are putting Venezuela’s sovereignty at risk in a territory that is strategic and that belongs to Venezuela,” Machado said.
Last month, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council published a list of five questions it plans to put before the Venezuelan people in a referendum set for December 3, 2023. One question (#5) proposes the creation of the Venezuelan State of Guyana Essequibo and an accelerated plan for giving Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards to the Guyanese population.
After years of failed good offices process via the UN, Guyana is seeking a final and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, as well as legal affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the country’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela.
Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour has laid claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass in the Essequibo region, and to a portion of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which nearly 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered largely by United States oil giant ExxonMobil.
The Maduro regime has accused the Guyana Government of being a puppet of ExxonMobil and the US Southern Command. And the Venezuelan President has called on President Dr Irfaan Ali to abandon the ICJ process and engage in bilateral discussions with Venezuela, mediated by the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
The Guyana Government has, however, already declared its commitment to resolving this longstanding border controversy with Venezuela through the legal process at the World Court. This position was also reaffirmed by Guyana’s National Assembly in a unanimous vote last week.
Over the past few weeks, Guyana has been informing regional and international partners of Venezuela’s planned referendum, which has been criticised by the United States, Caricom, and the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as several other nations in the Region, including Brazil.
There is a consensus that Venezuela’s referendum threatens the peace, security, and stability of the Region.
Maduro exige a la ONU que corrija sus “errores” sobre el Esequibo
El mandatario venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, le reclamó al secretario general de la ONU, António Guterres, que rectificara los errores que perjudican la soberanía de Venezuela en el caso del Esequibo, territorio que Guyana administra desde hace más de un siglo.
En el programa Con Maduro +, Maduro dijo que le había enviado una carta a Guterres con las pruebas de los “errores” y le había pedido que interviniera para frenar la escalada de Guyana contra Venezuela. “El secretario general, si se pone las pilas, (…) puede ayudar a un proceso de retoma del Acuerdo de Ginebra, a un proceso de diálogo directo, cara a cara”, afirmó.
Delcy Rodríguez viaja a La Haya
Por su parte, la vicepresidenta bolivariana, Delcy Rodríguez, viajó a La Haya “para defender a Venezuela y sus derechos históricos, y decirle al mundo que nada ni nadie va a detener que este 3 de diciembre se realice en Venezuela el referendo consultivo en la defensa de nuestra Guayana Esequiba”.
La semana pasada, la Cancillería venezolana cuestionó a Guterres por su postura respecto al Esequibo, acusándolo de “pretender declinar su responsabilidad en las tensiones generadas por Guyana relacionadas con la controversia territorial”.
Estas declaraciones se produjeron después de que el portavoz de Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, recordara en una conferencia de prensa que no se pronuncia al respecto y que el organismo encargado de dictar una resolución es la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ), con sede en La Haya (Países Bajos).
El Esequibo, un territorio rico en recursos y en disputa
El Esequibo es un territorio de 159.542 kilómetros que posee importantes recursos naturales —petroleros, gasísticos, mineros, hidráulicos y forestales— y un gran potencial turístico. Está administrado por Guyana conforme a una sentencia arbitral de 1899, misma que Venezuela siempre ha considerado “nula” e “írrita”.
En función de esto, Caracas se apoya en el acuerdo firmado en 1966 en Ginebra entre Venezuela y Reino Unido, antigua potencia colonial de Guyana, el cual reconoce que el Esequibo es un territorio en disputa.
La CIJ abrió un caso a petición de Guyana en 2018 y desde entonces se ha pronunciado para declararse como competente al respecto, a pesar del rechazo de Venezuela a este proceso judicial.
