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Venezuela reaffirms sovereignty over Guayana Esequiba at ICJ hearing
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00:00We are now going live to the Netherlands to listen to the statements of the Venezuelan delegation before the International
00:07Court of Justice.
00:09Let's listen.
00:10The nature of the territorial controversy has a reach of the binding agreements that link Venezuela and Guyana in the
00:22Geneva Agreement.
00:23Venezuela comes here today with a responsibility to answer to the erroneous and deceitful actions of Guyana and expose the
00:32real judicial composition of the territorial controversy,
00:36as well as the limits of the international agreements and the Geneva Agreement impulses on Guyana that tries to transform
00:44fraudulently the binding.
00:51Mr. President, members of the court, Venezuela has a long tradition of historic rights over Guayana Ezequiva
00:57coming from the presence of the Spanish Empire and the Venezuelan Republic for centuries.
01:04As a fact, the Ezequivo River has its name after a Spanish soldier.
01:18Poland arrives in the territory when still Spain holds control of the territory.
01:29The Spanish Empire had very clear its possessions on Guayana Ezequiva, which it defended in the face of the Dutch,
01:38in a constant process of expelling the illegal incursions, demonstrating its control of the territory.
01:47Venezuela has presented an exhaustive list of stages that proved the existence of Dutch positions to the east of the
01:55Ezequivo River,
01:56and the Spanish on the west of the river.
01:59But if that's not enough, the British have confirmed this same reality.
02:08Only an employer paid by the British Empire to justify its ambitions in the territory in search for territory German
02:16Roman terms appears after the 1800s,
02:20writing an arbitrary line in Venezuelan territory that was tried to impose as a border.
02:27Venezuela never recognized that criminal act, perpetrated not by one explorer but by an agent at the service of the
02:38occupation.
02:39The British entered our territory years later following that arbitrary line of Schoenburg and then in 1897-1899 they wanted
02:53to legitimize that theft.
02:55The struggle of Venezuela for its territorial integrity and independence has been continuous.
03:01Our territorial rights over Guayana Ezequiva were systematically eroded during the 19th century by the British Empire that wanted to
03:12take over half of our territory.
03:16Many are the examples of provocations during the decades from 1850 to 1890, times where British councils sent communications to
03:28London conspiring to take over the territory,
03:32and trying to instigate civil conflicts and try to control the territory until the last moment arrived to the military
03:40action.
03:42Despite trying direct negotiations, peaceful negotiations,
03:49our arbitrage awards the Hungary British Empire, the greatest empire of the world in the 19th century, their greed was
04:00not satisfied.
04:01Only the intervention of the United States in 1895 forced the British to accept the arbitral award.
04:13Although Venezuela trusted the destiny of its territory to the alleged good will of the United States,
04:20unfortunately that country was not mediating to help Venezuela but to impose their will in the entire continent
04:30and forced the British Empire to recognize the new power.
04:35It was about then of the re-edition of the Monroe Doctrine, a doctrine that came, not the one that
04:47came for a defensive aspect, but the one that came later that had as a purpose to impose the sovereignty
04:54of the United States over the entire hemisphere.
04:57The Washington Treaty of 1897 and the fraudulent Paris arbitral award of 1899 became for the specialists on the issue,
05:10in key reference of the moment in which the United States began to substitute the British Empire and European powers
05:18in the American continent.
05:22That's the way the U.S. President Cleveland recognized it when in 1904 he highlights the good things coming from
05:32that arbitral award,
05:33and I quote,
05:34I hope there are but few of our fellow citizens who in retrospect do not acknowledge the good that has
05:43come to our nation through this episode in our history.
05:46It has established the Monroe Doctrine on lasting foundations before the eyes of the world.
05:53It has given us a better place in the respect and consideration of the people of all nations and especially
06:01of Great Britain.
06:04I close in the quote.
06:06The fraudulent arbitral award was imposed by the two most powerful powers of the world at the time.
06:16This is the highest point of the canon diplomacy, the imposition of treaties by force in Africa, Asia, and Latin
06:27America.
06:28Venezuela in 1902, just half the way between 1899 and the limitation of 1905, was blocked and bombed by the
06:41British Empire, by Germany, and by Italy.
06:44In 1904, the United States threatened to invade Venezuela in a typical place of the known policy.
06:56In these conditions, only the people that do not know about the history of Venezuela or pretend to forget about
07:03it, pretend to act to demand now that our country had to act at that moment according to the illusion
07:13of the equality of state.
07:14But the reality is much better.
07:16All these experiences suffered by our people taught us that we need to work for peace, but without expecting any
07:25favors from the great powers.
07:26The miraculous results of awards.
07:31This gave result to our tradition of not recognizing jurisdiction of arbitrary courts of any kind to resolve issues related
07:42with our territorial integrity.
07:45It is precisely for this reason that Venezuela does not recognize jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in 2020.
07:59Respectfully, we do not recognize your jurisdiction to try to solve this controversy.
08:04Mr. President, the process of decolonization that took place after the Second World War created the framework so that the
08:16independent republics, theft that had lost their territory by the Empire, as the way as the nation had been colonized,
08:24had the opportunity to begin processes.
08:26to reclaim compensation and restitution for the damage caused at the hands of the great powers.
08:36The United Nations organization and its decolonization committee serve many countries as platforms to begin in the framework of international
08:48law and without threats of use of force negotiations with the colonial powers with the objective to
08:56to recover its territorial rights.
09:00Venezuela has been in the vanguard for the fight for the decolonization of the peoples of the world and of
09:08the non-autonomous territory and of its own territory.
09:15Therefore, Venezuela's conduct is eminentemente anti-imperialist and it is impossible to try to deceive the public opinion trying to
09:23present Venezuela as a country that represents an essential danger for its neighbors.
09:30All processes of decolonization of the decolonization of all, including the one of Guyana, have been supported by Venezuela.
09:39In 1962, our foreign minister, Marcos Falcón, stated formally the reclamation of Venezuela for the Guayana Ezequiva precisely in the
09:52committee of the decolonization of the United Nations.
09:56That reclamation brought about the negotiations that gave life to the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which effects were upheld in time
10:07between Venezuela and Guyana until, in the year 2015, energy interest instigated a change of position in the government of
10:16Guyana.
10:17The Geneva Agreement is therefore an instrument of decolonization.
10:25At the same time that Guyana achieved its independence, Venezuela set the basis so that its territory was returned, territory
10:36that had been colonized by the British Empire.
10:38The Geneva Agreement is an instrument of peace that calls on both sides to find, through the means of direct
10:48negotiation, a solution practical and beneficiary for both, which is exactly the opposite to a decision imposed by a court
10:57where one side will win at the expense of the defeat of another.
11:04When both sides committed in the Geneva Agreement, they agreed to overcome the legacy of colonialism through friendly negotiations.
11:18Mr. President, members of the court, allow me to be precise.
11:24Despite the reiterated affirmations of Guyana, the Geneva Agreement of 1966 continues to be the legal framework that rules over
11:35the issue.
11:35Said agreement recognizes explicitly the existence of a territorial controversy in relation to Guyana-Esequiba.
11:45The territory is an object of dispute between both sides.
11:49In consequence, the characterization that presents Guyana of a supposed threat to its territorial integrity or its sovereign territory constitutes
12:01an erroneous interpretation and a presentation deliberately trying deceitful.
12:10For example, Guyana doesn't have any title established that is being threatened.
12:16What exists is a territorial controversy, an unresolved controversy recognized presently as such in the Geneva Agreement, which must be
12:27resolved in a mutually acceptable basis for both sides.
12:34The way that Guyana presented last Monday pretends to invert these clear terms of the Geneva Agreement and disregard the
12:43agreement after more than six decades of bilateral practices, including the sustained negotiations and the process of good office carried
12:53out under the auspices of the U.S. Secretary General.
12:58And I ask, we must understand, then, that throughout those decades, the U.S. Secretary General, acting in the agreed
13:08framework by both sides, was he promoting the destruction of Guyana, the dismemberment of its territory,
13:18when he pointed out that the object of its good offices of the Geneva Agreement was to guarantee a mutually
13:26beneficiary solution to the controversy, and that to try to reach this objective, they had to explore options, creative options.
13:36Or, or is Guyana suggesting that their own authorities, including the Prime Minister, Forbes, Braham, who participated actively in the
13:48process established in virtue of the Geneva Agreement and affirmed, and I quote,
13:54with good office by both sides, perhaps we can reach a solution that is mutually beneficial, in which we preserve
14:02honor, end of quote.
14:08was it a conduct destined to undermine the sovereignty of their own country?
14:13I hope that this is not what they pretended to transmit last Monday.
14:18However, that's the implication, the inevitable implication of your statements.
14:26Said proposals are unsustainable, not only are incompatible with the text and object of the Geneva Agreement, but that also
14:33are inconsiderable with the constant practice of both sides throughout decades.
14:41The judicial reality is clear, the agreement recognizes the existence of the controversy and establishes a framework for its solution.
14:51It does not support, nor will it never support, the narrative that Guyana is now promoting.
14:58Professor Zimmermann will go deeper, went deeper on this point earlier this morning.
15:05I repeat again, it is impossible that the Geneva Agreement in its execution represents an existential agreement for one of
15:13the sides.
15:13To affirm the contrary is an act of propaganda that has to be denounced publicly.
15:21As a matter of fact, the good faith and good neighborhoods of Venezuela is proven in the proposals of shared
15:29development highly beneficial for Guyana.
15:32In the year 2009, for example, Venezuela and Guyana celebrated an energy agreement of exchanging rice for oil that was
15:42renewed until the year 2015, in which Venezuela
15:47bought rice to Guyana to a price higher than the value market and sell its oil to a lower value
15:55market back to Guyana.
15:59The technicians of the Inter-American Bank of the World considered that for Guyana, the cost of its oil import
16:06was reduced and the amount of its public debt also decreased considerably,
16:12thanks to the generous conditions of financing and long-term financing contemplated in the agreement of Petro-Caribe.
16:22Venezuela has never been an obstacle for the development of Guyana, how it was affirmed in this hall.
16:30Very disturbing, on the contrary, Guyana was benefitted of the Solidarity policy of Venezuela that were offered as well to
16:38other countries of the region.
16:42We cannot accuse Venezuela of not being a good neighbor.
16:48However, in 1982, the Prime Minister of Guyana, Forth Barham, great historic leader of that country, and signer, signatory of
17:00the Geneva Agreement of 1966, proposed a definite solution to the territorial controversy,
17:07through a mutually beneficial plan of economic development with the construction of a hydroelectric project financed by Venezuela and whose
17:19production will be used by both sides.
17:26Forth Barham said this, and I quote, I see advantage in the contract for long term for the supply of
17:32energy in Venezuela together with a political agreement that will resolve from our relations the ongoing border issue.
17:43In other words, he believed that together with the agreement of mutual cooperation and the supply of energy in Venezuela,
17:54we should sign an agreement that puts an end to the border issue.
18:00End of quote.
18:02This proof, ignored by those that seek to smear Venezuela, allows to affirm two important facts.
18:11First, Venezuela was not the imperial monster that was hampering the development of Guyana as they want to present here.
18:24The Prime Minister of Venezuela did not fear Venezuela. On the contrary, he had the vision to propose a project
18:32that was mutually beneficial for both nations within the spirit of the Geneva Agreement.
18:38The second fact, the second fact, is that the Prime Minister proves with his proposal that it is false that
18:48the only purpose of the agreement is to establish the arbitral law of 1899.
18:56On the contrary, the Geneva Agreement creates a whole spectrum of beneficial solutions that can be taken advantage of if
19:08there is a disposition to fulfill the agreement in good faith.
19:14Guyana presents itself as the legitimate heir of the British and Dutch Empire.
19:19But the truth is that it is the beneficiary of a colonialist disposition, formalized through an fraudulent arbitral award. The
19:29Geneva Agreement has the purpose to correct that injustice.
19:36To conclude, it is important to reaffirm the next five points.
19:44First, our historic experience has taught us that the delegation of vital issues for the Republic to international bodies has
19:57been bad for our national sovereignty.
20:00In consequence, Venezuela has never agreed to submit this controversy to the court.
20:08Secondly, the historic rights of Venezuela and we have the determination to defend them in peace.
20:20The third, the Geneva Agreement is the result of the historic dispossession suffered by Venezuela in 1899 and has as
20:29a purpose to resolve the controversy through direct means, peaceful means and diplomatic means.
20:37Fourth, a decision of the court that impacts the legal framework of the Geneva Agreement would be an obstacle to
20:49the road to find a solution that is mutually beneficial for both sides.
20:57And fifth, Venezuela is committed to continue acting in good faith in the direct negotiation with Guyana to achieve a
21:07beneficial agreement for both sides.
21:11Mr. President, Mr. President, to conclude, we want to send a message to our people who is listening with attention
21:20the voice of Venezuela and is the following.
21:24For generations, our people who have done enormous sacrifices to defend our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
21:34We come to fulfil the mandate of defending our historical rights with serenity, respect and firmness.
21:43And we do it with the trust given by the knowledge of our history, the just nature of our cause.
21:55We came here to the head with the same spirit with which we celebrated the Geneva Agreement, the only instrument
22:02that would allow us to reach a mutually beneficial solution that we all wish.
22:10This is a task of the entire nation. Let's walk firmly in the same direction. With the security that united
22:20aware of our citizen obligations, we will achieve the objective without impositions that affect our sovereignty as it happened in
22:301899.
22:31For us and our neighbors, there's not a different option to a future of peace, diplomacy and prosperity. Together, we
22:40will achieve this objective.
22:43Mr. President and members of the court, during the morning session, Venezuela presented its arguments on the only legal instrument
22:57that defines the solution of both sides,
23:00the Geneva agreement in 1899, deliberately ignored by Guyana on Monday session.
23:11This is this response that Guyana pretends to take away the attention from the Geneva Agreement to put attention on
23:19the arbitral agreement in 1899.
23:25Professor Simmerman will provide more details on this, and another professor will also conclude the morning session and the historic
23:36circumstances that led to its conclusion.
23:40In the afternoon session, Venezuela will answer the arguments of Guyana on the alleged validity of the arbitral award of
23:501899, reiterating that its participation does not imply the recognition of the court's jurisdiction, but the exercise of sovereign exercise
23:59to decolonization.
24:00Prof. Danai Azaria will open the session, followed by Prof. Paolo Parquete, Christian Kant, and Gianmarc Subbanan, who will go
24:12over the historic position on the invalidity of the arbitral award and the inexistence of a pronunciation to reclaim.
24:23Mr. President, President, and members of the court, thank you for your attention.
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