Opposition Leader Attends Forum on Venezuela-Guyana Conflict

Moses Shyne Barrow

On Sunday, Venezuelans voted overwhelmingly to annex Essequibo, a disputed and oil-rich territory of Guyana. This is territory that the Venezuelan government claims forms a natural part of their country and asserts that it was unfairly delegated to Guyana more than a century ago. This week, the Leader of the Opposition attended an annual three-day meeting in Washington with former leaders of other countries to discuss the matter. He shared with us what came out of that forum.

Moses Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“What is happening in Guyana, we had put out a restrained statement when Maduro and the I.C.J., – Caricom also put out a statement. They were more strong, they condemned it and they pointed Mr. Maduro to the I.C.J. and called for him to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana. Guyana, in 1966, and Venezuela signed a Geneva Agreement that they would resolve this matter amicably, peacefully. They were to create a commission that was in 1966. If they could not agree, the commission presented terms that were not agreeable by either party, then they would go to the Secretary General of the United Nations and see what the Secretary General said and if there were no compromise. If there was no agreement, then they would go to the I.C.J. That is in the 1966 Geneva agreement. So they can’t agree in 2018. The secretary general at the time got into the matter and recommended that we can’t come to terms. This needs to be resolved at the I.C.J. Recently, I believe last Friday. Venezuela was saying the I.C.J. has no jurisdiction over this, even though in 1966, in the Geneva agreement, they agreed that if they could not resolve it with this commission, it would go to the I.C.J. They said the I.C.J. has no jurisdiction. The I.C.J. ruled, because Guyana brought it to the I.C.J., that they do have jurisdiction.”