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"They are trying to give orders to Venezuela... They are violating the UN Charter. They violate the right to self-determination," the Bolivarian Vice President said.
On Tuesday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez denounced new provocations from Guyana following that country's request to the International Court of Justice. She also announced that Caracas is bringing the matter to the attention of the United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres.
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During a press conference in Caracas, Rodriguez explained that Guyana's request for "precautionary measures" related to the referendum on Essequibo, which Venezuela will hold on December 3, constitutes an attempt to undermine the Bolivarian Constitution.
Guyana seeks the International Court of Justice's intervention to prevent Venezuela from holding this referendum, which the Bolivarian nation wishes to conduct to demonstrate its interest in defending its territorial rights in an area rich in natural resources and biodiversity.
"They are trying to give orders to Venezuela. What happened yesterday, when they asked not to hold the referendum, seems laughable. They are violating the United Nations Charter. They violate the right to self-determination," Rodriguez said.
The Bolivarian Vice President emphasized that the company Exxon Mobil and the Guyanese government "are preparing to harm Venezuela, but we are lodging this complaint with the UN Secretary so that he can use his good offices."
Venezuelan military clearing land to reportedly expand a military post just a few hundred meters from the Esequibo border on the Barima river. #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/nE4C8w1aM0
— CNW (@ConflictsW) October 30, 2023
Besides insisting on the need to neutralize the alliance between Exxon Mobil and Guyana, Rodriguez pointed out that the territorial dispute must be resolved in accordance with the 1966 Geneva Agreement.
She criticized Guyana's unilateral claim to rights over a maritime area with pending delimitation. "They are already prejudging the outcome of the ongoing controversy by awarding exploitation blocks for energy," Rodriguez stressed.
"We remind the President of Guyana that they could not prove their sovereign rights over that territory," she pointed out and recalled the United Kingdom's responsibility for the dispossession of Venezuelan territory in 1899.
"This is the same kind of dispossession that the empire is trying to accomplish concerning the situation between Israel and Palestine, seizing territories that do not belong to them for geopolitical reasons... It's a theft of territory."
"Sooner or later, they will have to sit down and negotiate with Venezuela. These are our sovereign rights... What we are defending here is our morality," she added.
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