Any act of aggression by Venezuela will be appropriately addressed, says Guyana VP

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has sought to assure citizens that any act of physical aggression by Venezuela will be met with the appropriate response.

He told reporters at his press conference on Thursday that the situation is being looked at by the highest levels of government, including receiving daily attention from the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Irfaan Ali and its international allies.

“Those matters relating to the Venezuelan aggression against our country and their threat to our territorial integrity and sovereignty are receiving the attention of the entire government the highest level, at the presidential level, on a daily basis….and we’re working with a number of partners around the world to ensure that any Venezuelan aggression that manifests itself in a physical form would be dealt with appropriately,” Jagdeo said.

Venezuela’s recent aggression was on the morning of March 1 when Venezuelan Naval Vessel ABV Guaiqueiri sailed approximately 700 metres in Guyana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), near floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Prosperity which is part of ExxonMobil’s operations in Guyana’s waters. The Venezuelan naval vessel communicated threateningly via radio communication that FPSO Prosperity was operating in Venezuela’s EEZ before continuing in a Southwestern direction towards other FPSOs, to which it delivered the same message.

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) nations issued a joint statement on March 14 in support of Guyana, condemning the recent actions by Venezuelan naval vessels, which they described as threats to Guyana’s commercial operations.

The ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the High Representative of the European Union underscored their commitment to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, reaffirming that these principles as essential to maintaining international order and regional peace.

Venezuela has announced that it will soon hold elections in the Essequibo region, which has been the subject of the neighbours’ decades-long border dispute. When asked about intelligence regarding a Guyanese being appointed governor in the disputed region, Jagdeo dismissed it as mere reports from Venezuela, insisting that Guyana has authority over its own territory.

“They can call him governor, king, viceroy, monarch, whatever they want to call their people but not in our Essequibo,” he stressed, reminding that any Guyanese who accepts to become governor is committing a treasonous act.

“….These antics by the Venezuelan government… you have to treat it seriously and that is why we took it to the ICJ. We approached the ICJ on the matter of their elections [and] our partners are fully briefed,” the vice president added.

Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has since filed a new case at the ICJ, seeking emergency measures to halt Venezuela’s plans to hold an election in Essequibo.

Guyana has argued to the ICJ that the conduct of Venezuelan elections, which are scheduled for May 25, as well as all preparatory acts in the disputed territory leading to the holding of such elections, would violate Guyana’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence, as well as the court’s order of December 1, 2023.

Meanwhile, Jagdeo criticised a recent statement by the Alliance for Change (AFC) which said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government “has proven time and time again that it has no stomach for a fight with Venezuela”.

He said such assertions can be viewed as divisive, potentially undermining the unified stance that Guyana has traditionally upheld in the ongoing border controversy.

Jagdeo reminded that Guyana has historically maintained a bipartisan and unified front on this matter, considering it is a sacred issue of national sovereignty.

To this end, he commended Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton’s move to respond in a measured manner, during a recent news conference where he addressed questions from the media relating to his discussion with President Ali on the border controversy.

“I saw someone who understood that sometimes you can’t conduct diplomacy in public, particularly on a sensitive matter like the border issue. It was a very mature position,” Jagdeo said.