Venezuela denounces that 28 foreign ships operate in «area in controversy» with Guyana

The head of the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, denounced this Sunday that 28 foreign drilling and cistern ships operate in the «area in controversy» with Guyana, which for the official implies a violation of international law.

EFE

Through a statement, Padrino López informed that the Bolivarian Navy found, through satellite images, the presence of these vessels carrying out hydrocarbon exploitation and marketing activities.

In addition, he rejected on behalf of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) the statements of the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, who expressed on Saturday his «serious concern» before the presence of Venezuelan naval ships in what he considered Guyanesas jurisdictional waters.

In the statement, Venezuela confirmed the traffic of the boat «Oceanic Patrol AB Guaiquerí (PO-11)» in waters that they consider are «pending to delimit», in reference to the Esequibo, a region of almost 160,000 square kilometers, rich in oil and minerals, which disputes Venezuela with Guyana, and that both countries consider as part of their territory.

Venezuela also reiterated as «valid legal instrument in force» the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which raises a practical, political and satisfactory solution in the dispute for the Esequibo.

«Guyana has no legal basis or legitimacy to unilaterally dispose of a space where he cannot exercise sovereignty or jurisdiction,» said Padrino López.

The FANB rejected «the trendy and partial positions that some regional organizations have assumed,» after the Caribbean community (Caricom) Tildara on Saturday of «provocative incident» the presence of Venezuelan naval ships in waters that Guyana considers as part of its territory.

Through a statement, the Caricom urged Guyana and Venezuela to «avoid unnecessary confrontation actions» and asked the administration of Nicolás Maduro to «order the urgent withdrawal of the Ship of the Waters of Guyana and, in addition, refrain from coming into contact with the FPSO platforms» (floating units of production, storage and discharge of the American oil company Exxonmobil).

The differences due to the border limits around the Esequibo, which occupies two thirds of the territory of Guyana and that Venezuela has claimed for more than a century, began with the arbitral award of Paris of 1899 that gave the sovereignty of the territory to the then British Guyana.

Decades later, Venezuela declared that ruling void and signed with the United Kingdom the 1966 Geneva agreement, which determined to create a commission to resolve the historic controversy, which has not materialized.