Andreina Itriago Acosta, Bloomberg News

CARACAS
EnergiesNet.com 11 14 2023

Venezuela wants United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene in its longstanding dispute with Guyana over a 61,600 square-mile territory known as the Essequibo, President Nicolás Maduro said Monday evening on his TV show.

Maduro said he had sent a letter Saturday to Guterres, asking him to act as a “deactivator” of an “escalation” against Venezuela. 

“He can do a lot, he can help to resume the Geneva agreement, of direct dialogue, face to face,” Maduro said.

Guyana and Venezuela have been disputing their boundary since the 1800s, with Venezuela claiming everything west of the Essequibo River — about two-thirds of what Guyana’s considers its territory. In 1899, an international arbitration panel awarded Britain the territory, but in 1962 Venezuela said the decision was invalid and since then has periodically demanded that the area be handed over.

In 1966 the parties signed a treaty in Geneva to resolve the dispute, which is the only valid decision for Venezuela. Since then, negotiations have gone through several phases, including one of “good offices,” for a quarter century, under UN jurisdiction. However, after this effort failed to produce results, the UN referred the controversy to the International Court of Justice, as Guyana expected, with Venezuela not recognizing the latter’s jurisdiction to resolve the issue.

• UN made many “mistakes,” according to Maduro, who said he had detailed proof of this in the letter to Guterres
  • Full content of the letter to be disclosed Tuesday, Maduro said
    
    
• Vice President Delcy Rodriguez arrived in The Hague Monday to represent Venezuela at the ICJ hearings on Venezuela’s referendum over the Essequibo, Maduro said.

bloomberg.com 11 13 2023