00:00This case has an existential quality for Guyana. A stake is more than 70% of our sovereign territory, which
00:10has been recognized to be an integral part of the country for more than 126 years, including the past 60
00:18years since independence.
00:19Guyana's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, as he began Guyana's argument before the International Court of
00:28Justice regarding its border dispute with Venezuela over the Esequibo region. He said it is a region of almost 160
00:37,000 square kilometers. Guyana's delegation thanked the ICJ for its previous provisional rulings.
00:45Notwithstanding these actions, Guyana has suffered, and continues to suffer, greatly from Venezuela's unlawful claim to threats to the majority
00:55of our territory.
00:57This has been a blight on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning of our existence.
01:05It has been a threat to our peace and security, exacerbated in recent years by the ominous growth of Venezuela's
01:13military activities.
01:14construction of new bases, new airfields, and its deployment of aircraft, heavy weapons, and troops to the border area.
01:22Guyana's Foreign Affairs Minister used the words historic moment on day one of the ICJ's proceedings, which were closely watched
01:30by Guyana's and Venezuela's neighbors in the region, including their closest neighbor in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago.
01:38Where the Esequibo matter is concerned, Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of CARICOM support Guyana, which is now experiencing
01:45a crude oil and natural gas boom.
01:48Ambassador Doneth Street told the ICJ the Esequibo region is the engine of Guyana's economic development.
01:56Gold mining in parts of the region dates back to the 19th century.
02:03Considerable deposits of bauxite and manganese are also found in the Esequibo region.
02:10There is significant potential for the exploitation of oil and natural gas in the waters adjacent to its coast.
02:19Attorney Paul Reichler dismissed Venezuela's position that the 1897 Treaty of Washington and the subsequent arbitrarial award and boundary establishment
02:30in 1899 are invalid.
02:32It is crystal clear that Venezuela has no legal or evidential basis, none whatsoever, to argue that the 1897 Treaty
02:42is invalid on grounds that the United States failed to consult with Venezuela during negotiation of the treaty,
02:49or that it colluded with Britain behind Venezuela's back, or that it accepted terms that favored British interest to the
02:57prejudice of those of Venezuela.
02:59British Attorney Edward Craven also represented Guyana's position less than a week after Guyana's president wrote to CARICOM objecting to
03:08Venezuela's acting president displaying a map that showed the Esequibo region as part of Venezuela in her official trips to
03:16Barbados and Grenada.
03:18The court should order Venezuela to revoke, by means of its own choosing, each and every law, decree and other
03:28domestic act which has been enacted or taken in violation of those provisional measures orders,
03:35including the legislation which purports to incorporate Guiana's sovereign territory within Venezuela and the legislation which purports to extend Venezuela's
03:46legislative, executive and judicial jurisdiction to that territory.
03:51And the court should also order that Venezuela must withdraw and destroy the official maps that purport to depict Guiana
04:00Esequiba as part of Venezuela.
04:02Venezuela is set to begin its argument before the ICJ on Wednesday.
04:08Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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