2023-12-11 18:12:00
The government of the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, asked the organization to support it in the dispute with Venezuela. Photo: OAS

(Washington, United States) The government of Guyana wants the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to issue a declaration condemning the actions being carried out by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro to annex two thirds of the Guyanese territory , in the middle of a historic dispute between both countries.

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The representation of Guyana, following holding consultations among the member countries of the OAS, presented a draft declaration to be considered by all the countries with which it wants the Permanent Council to express itself on the tension with Venezuela, following the plebiscite and the subsequent statements by the regime authorities indicating their intentions to advance on the territory of Essequibo without waiting for the resolution of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in a government act due to the territorial dispute that his government has with Guyana. EFE/ Miraflores Press

Guyana’s proposal will force the Permanent Council to address the issue next week, on which differences have already appeared in the bloc of left-wing countries. At least it will put the governments of Bolivia and Colombia, allies of Maduro, in an uncomfortable situation. Brazil, on the other hand, questioned the actions carried out by the regime.

The text proposed by Guyana to the rest of the countries, which Infobae accessed, seeks for the OAS to declare “its unequivocal condemnation of the illicit acts once morest the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” .

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Guyana also wants countries to establish that “these illicit acts constitute a violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States and the principles of peaceful coexistence.”

Another of the Caribbean country’s intentions is for the OAS to ask Venezuela to immediately “cease” “all actions to illegally annex the territory of Guyana.”

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Unlike the Maduro regime, which now, contrary to what was agreed with the UN in the past, ignores the scope of the International Court of Justice to resolve the dispute, Guyana insists that the “peaceful settlement of disputes” must occur in that field. .

The case is in that court following a proposal by both countries to the United Nations to start a negotiation that did not reach agreements, the Secretary General of the UN referred the matter to him in January 2018. The International Court of Justice issued two rulings, one in December 2020 and another in April of this year, in which it established that it has jurisdiction to define the matter.

Map depicting Esquibo, the region of Guyana claimed by Venezuela. Europa Press

Venezuela is unaware of these failures and advances through other mechanisms. The first was to hold a referendum among Venezuelans to seek internal legitimacy that would allow them to then advance through unexplained mechanisms to annex the territory. Guyana considers this intimidation.

The figures on participation in the referendum provided by the Venezuelan authorities were confusing. There were 20.7 million voters eligible to vote. According to the National Electoral Council, some 10 million votes were registered.

But according to the interpretation made by opponents of the regime, it might have been communicated that way because each question (there were five) might be considered a vote. If so, participation would be 2 million voters, only 10% of the registry.

Guyana will assume a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in January.

In the OAS, resolutions are usually adopted by consensus. Countries try until the last minute to negotiate to issue declarations without having to vote on them. The vast majority of the time this is achieved, but sometimes it is not possible, as happened last month when Guatemala opposed a statement that questioned the actions in that country. On that occasion the issue went to a vote that ended 20 to 1.

The text, as proposed by Guyana, is very difficult to achieve by consensus. It is made unlikely, among other things, by the elliptical position raised this weekend by the president of Colombia Gustavo Petro, who avoided questioning Venezuela and on the contrary questioned whether the dispute would be resolved by the ICJ.

Gustavo Petro called the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana a disintegration of the Bolivarian project – credit social network

Guyana had been insisting that Petro express himself, following weeks of silence. Bolivia is another of the left-wing countries that has maintained positions more aligned with Venezuela in the OAS and it is difficult to expect them to support the tone of the declaration proposed by Guyana. It is also unknown what position Mexico will take.

On the other side, there are already some clear voices in defense of Guyana’s position. The first was that of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, who has already expressed himself on several occasions questioning the actions of the regime. He did so prior to the referendum and also last week, when he described it as an “aggressive stance of the Maduro regime” which he accused of having “escalated” the conflict to transform it into “a point of important concern for regional security that threatens stability.” and territorial sovereignty.”

The president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, met with Luis Almagro in September when he visited the OAS. Photo: OAS

The United States also sided with Guyana. Secretary of State Antony Bliken called the President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali last week and expressed his “unwavering support” for respect for Guyana’s sovereignty. Blinken called for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. In addition, the United States Southern Command announced a “cooperation flight” in the midst of the conflict.

Brazil, which with the arrival of Lula Da Silva to the government had made several gestures of rapprochement with Maduro, however was critical last week of the role that Venezuela is playing in this crisis.

In the OAS, if the Caribbean countries remain united they have a lot of strength given that they have 15 votes. Although Venezuela knew how to have a lot of influence in some Caribbean countries due to its oil dealings in the past, so far Caricom has been strong in the defense of Guyana.

Two-thirds of Guyana’s territory is the area known as Essequibo. But that area has been in dispute for almost 200 years. The independence of Venezuela, which began to take shape in 1811, was finally achieved in the following decade. By 1820, the country defined its border on the Essequibo River. The territory that is now Guyana was at that time part of the British Empire, which made no claims.

However, in 1850, the United Kingdom annexed that territory as part of its colony, known as British Guiana, something that Venezuela never recognized and that was disputed in different instances over the decades.

When the United Kingdom decided to give independence to Guyana, the issue was also discussed and an agreement was reached to establish a commission that never reached any agreement. Venezuela did not renounce its claim to the territory, but Chavismo never made the issue a national cause until now.

There are two recent episodes that reactivated the issue. The first were discoveries of enormous oil wealth in 2019 that meant that there is now an exploration project that Venezuela resists. That is why Venezuela affirms that its claims now arise because Guyana agreed with the oil company Exxon Mobil on a project in a territory that remains in dispute.

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