By Admin. Updated 3:30 p.m., Friday, December 1, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Venezuela’s government says that its historic referendum on the controversial Guyana Esequiba (Essequibo in English) area will go ahead after a ruling issued today (December 1) by the International Court of Justice – ICJ.
Venezuela and Guyana are at odds over a disputed area of land called the Esiquba (Essequibo in English).
According to ABC News, the ICJ which is the United Nations’ top court has ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over a disputed territory, but the court did not specifically ban Venezuela from holding its planned referendum Sunday on the territory’s future
In a Communique issued today, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela said it “takes note of the pronouncement issued by the International Court of Justice, in relation to the outrageous and interventionist provisional measures requested by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana against the consultative referendum scheduled for December 3, 2023”.
“Venezuela ratifies that, faithful to its historical position, it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to settle the territorial controversy over the Guayana Esequiba, especially in view of the existence of the Geneva Agreement of 1966,” the Communique stated.
“In the current case, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana had expressly requested that the consultative referendum not be held or that questions 1, 3 and 5 be modified. In its decision, the Court dismissed – in its entirety – this unprecedented and groundless request, which related to a matter of Venezuela’s exclusive domain,” the document added.
According to ABC News, “Guyana had asked the International Court of Justice to order a halt to parts of the vote, saying it was aimed at paving the way for Venezuela to annex the disputed Essequibo region, which makes up some two-thirds of Guyana”.
In its Communique, Venezuela’s government said: “Nothing in international law allowed the Court to interfere in Venezuela’s internal affairs, nor to pretend to prohibit or modify a sovereign act organized within the framework of its participatory political system and based on its Constitution”.
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