Commonwealth Secretary-General expresses concern at latest Guyana-Venezuela border dispute

LONDON, CMC – Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, Wednesday expressed “deep concern” at the decision of the Venezuelan National Assembly to undertake a referendum on the status of the Essequibo region on December 3 as tensions regarding the border dispute between Caracas and Guyana heightened in recent days.

“The Commonwealth stands with the Government and people of Guyana and with our partners in CARICOM (Caribbean Community) in expressing our concern over the questions in the planned referendum,” Scotland said in a statement.

She said that the Commonwealth continues to stand for the rule of law and, “reaffirms its firm and steadfast support for the maintenance and preservation of the sovereign and territorial integrity of Guyana, and the unobstructed exercise of its rights to develop the entirety of its territory for the benefit of its people”.

On Tuesday, the London-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Guyana had filed a request for the indication of provisional measures in the border dispute with Venezuela, with Georgetown reporting that on October 23, Venezuela, through its National Electoral Council, published a list of five questions that it plans to put before the Venezuelan people in a Consultative Referendum on December 3 this year.

“According to the Applicant, the purpose of this referendum is ‘to obtain responses that would support Venezuela’s decision to abandon (the current proceedings before the court), and to resort instead to unilateral measures to ‘resolve’ the controversy with Guyana by formally annexing and integrating into Venezuela all of the territory at issue in these proceedings, which comprises more than two-thirds of Guyana”.

According to the ICJ, Guyana is requesting that the court indicates that “Venezuela shall not proceed with the Consultative Referendum planned for December 3, 2023 in its present form,” and “in particular, Venezuela shall not include the First, Third or Fifth questions in the Consultative Referendum”.

Scotland said that the five questions approved by the National Electoral Council to be included in the referendum undermine Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and their intent is contrary to international law.

“Question 5 proposes the creation of Venezuelan state of Guyana Essequibo and an accelerated plan for giving Venezuelan citizenship and identity cards to the Guyanese population.”

She said international law prohibits the seizure and annexation by one country of the territory of another.

“The language in these questions contributes to heightened tension and is a threat to peace and stability in a member state of our Commonwealth Family and indeed in the wider Caribbean region.”

Venezuela’s planned referendum and its approved questions for the referendum later this year have set off a wave of criticisms, with the Guyana government accusing Venezuela of trying to annex parts of the country’s territory in contravention with international law.

The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS) have also rejected the referendum stating that international law strictly prohibits the Government of one State from unilaterally seizing, annexing or incorporating the territory of another state and noted that the referendum will open the door to the possible violation of this fundamental tenet of international law.

Guyana’s National Assembly will meet on Friday  or an ‘extraordinary’ sitting, to consider a motion in relation to the ongoing border controversy between the two countries.

The parliamentary sitting comes on the heels of a meeting between President Irfaan Ali and Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton.

The two sides have agreed on a united front in relation to the border controversy.

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