Caracas, November 16, 2023 (Mincomunas Press) – The Minister for Communes and Social Movements, Jorge Arreaza, asked this Thursday the People’s Power spokespersons to defend the territory of Guayana Esequiba and to participate in the consultative referendum held next December 3.
From the ministerial headquarters, where he conducted a videoconference with the community leadership of the whole country, Arreaza explained the historical moments that have marked the controversy over the Essequibo territory and the actions taken by Venezuela to recover those lands. He highlighted that the Paris Arbitral Award of 1899 seeks to dispossess us of the Esequibo territory.
“This arbitration process was a fraud, a swindle, a total assault on the part of the English and British who sought to dispossess us of Essequibo Guyana.”
In 1962, a process of decolonization and independence of some Caribbean countries began. Guyana obtained it in May 1966.
“The search for the independence of British Guiana began then (…) and an official claim of the Republic of Venezuela for the Essequibo territory was raised,” recapitulated Arreaza.
Likewise, he recalled that Venezuela began a process of negotiations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over said lands. “The Geneva Agreement was signed in February 1966. This valid legal instrument was conceived to reach a practical and satisfactory solution to resolve the Guyana controversy.
He asserted that this was a significant achievement and that the Agreement recognizes that there is a boundary dispute which obliges the parties, Venezuela and the United Kingdom, to sit down to reach an amicable solution for both parties.
When Guyana gained independence, it inherited the territorial dispute and is in historical documentation. Venezuela recognized Guyanese independence. Although it reserved the right to defend the Essequibo territory.
At present, the Guyanese authorities intend to unilaterally dispose of a sea pending delimitation, illegally and in violation of international law.
That is why Minister Arreaza requested the People’s Power to activate a community command in the territory to guarantee that all Venezuelan men and women participate in the consultative referendum to defend the Essequibo territory.
