Venezuela Reiterates Diplomatic Solution With Guyana over Essequibo

Venezuela is asking Guyana to reestablish diplomatic ties in order to reach a "practical and satisfying solution to the territorial controversy" regarding the oil-rich Essequibo region, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reiterated Monday.

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"Under the aegis of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela proposed the Goverment of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana to reestablished the diplomatic contacts that allow for a practical and satisfying solution of the territorial controversy," the ministry said in a statement.

The invitation comes after Venezuela rejected a United Nations decision to hand the case over to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a proposal that was in turn welcomed by Guyanese authorities.

"We concluded that a meaningful progress in the controversy has not been reached and that's why the ICJ was chosen as the means to be used for the resolution," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Jan. 30.

But Venezuela doesn't consider the ICJ's resolutions to be binding, prefering instead to follow guidelines established in the Geneva Agreement of 1966, which states that the dispute should be "solved amicably in a way that's acceptable for both parties."

The Geneva Agreement of 1966 was signed between Venezuela and the United Kingdom regarding steps for a future resolution of the border controversy. Venezuela had rejected the Arbitral Award of 1899 between both countries as "null and void," claiming sovereignty over a portion of what was then British Guiana.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza also commented on the issue stressing the Bolivarian country's intentions for a legal and viable dialogue with its neighbor.

Venezuelan lawyer Severo Mallet-Prevost revealed how Russia and Britain made a secret deal in order to influence the judges over the definition of the borders during the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award.

British Guinana was granted independence a couple of months after the Geneva Agreement was signed.

In 2015, the oil company Exxon Mobil found an oil field in the disputed area, which restarted the territorial conflict.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made an initial request for a U.N. Good Offices mediation in July 2015 after Guyana began exploratory measures to extract oil in the disputed Essequibo territory.

Formal talks between the two countries and United Nations Representative Dag Nylander from Norway began in September, but failed to reach an agreement.