Venezuela’s dictator president, Nicolas Maduro, and his political opponent, Jaun Guiado, may disagree on a lot of things, but they seem to agree on one thing: that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela, or, as they say in Spanish, “Esequibo es Venezuela.”
In an entirely independent and separate move, Venezuela’s National Assembly, which is headed by internationally recognized interim President, Jaun Guiado, has signed an agreement nullifying the 1899 Paris Award — reasserting Venezuelan sovereignty over the disputed Essequibo territory.
In the agreement below, which is already signed, sealed and delivered, the National Assembly ratifies the rejection of taking the case of the disputed Essequibo territory to the International Court of Justice on the basis that the 1899 Paris Award has been nullified and consequently the International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction to hear the case.
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THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA
Defending the Constitution, Democracy and the Rule of Law
RATIFICATION AGREEMENT OF THE REJECTION OF THE DESIRE OF THE COOPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA TO SUMMON TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE REGARDING THE CLAIM OF THE ESSEQUIBO.
CONSIDERING
That the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as the only elected authority recognized as such and holder of the Legislative Power, has a constitutional obligation to ensure the irrevocable right of the territorial integrity of the nation according to Article 1 of the Constitution, and by the exercise of full sovereignty over the territory and geographical spaces of the Republic defined in Article 10 of the Constitution, as belonged to the Captaincy General of Venezuela, before the political transformation started on 19 April 1810, with the modifications resulting from the treaties and arbitrary awards not vitiated by invalidity; as well as their non-transferability to other States enshrined in articles 11 and 13 of the Magna Carta;
CONSIDERING
That within the territory of Venezuela so historically recognized is the Esequibo, which sought to strip through the Paris Award of 1899, flawed with absolute nullity and therefore legally non-existent, deriving from the territorial dispute regulated in the Agreement of Geneva of 1966, as a legal instrument through which the signatory parties – Britain; then British Guiana, now the Cooperative Republic of Guyana-and Venezuela-recognized the existence of a territorial dispute resulting from Venezuelan containment over invalidity of such a supposed award;
CONSIDERING
What as this National Assembly has pointed out in agreements of 6 February 2018, 19 June 2018, 8 January 2019 and 16 April 2019, the International Court of Justice lacks jurisdiction to hear the claim filed by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on March 29, 2018, since in accordance with article 36 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Venezuela has not consented in such jurisdiction, nor does the 1966 Geneva Agreement contain the express forecast of acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction, since its purpose is to seek a friendly and non-contentious solution to the difference between the Republic of Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
CONSIDERING
As this National Assembly has pointed out in the above-mentioned agreements of February 6 and June 19, 2018, the announcement of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, made on January 30, 30 2018, in which it raises referring the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo region to the International Court of Justice, despite the fact that all means of peaceful resolution of non-jurisdictional disputes under article 33 have not been exhausted of the Charter of the United Nations, contrary to the Geneva Agreement of 1966;
CONSIDERING
That the previous situation is the consequence of the negligence and ineffectiveness of the regime of Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro in reaffirming and protecting the territorial integrity of our country in accordance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which compromises the right that our peoples have and future generations on the natural resources of the claim area, and that the usurper regime of Nicolas Maduro has negligently decided not to participate in the process followed before the International Court of Justice for the claim of Essequibo.
CONSIDERING
That the international judicial representation of the Venezuelan State belongs to the legitimate Government of the President-in-Charge of Venezuela, Deputy Juan Guaidó, which has been widely recognized by the international community, despite which, the usurpation of the Presidency of the Republic by Nicolás Maduro hinders the full exercise of the defense of the Venezuelan State before the International Court of Justice.
CONSIDERING
That on 29 May 2020, the International Court of Justice set a public hearing to address the question of the jurisdiction of the Court in the Arbitrary Award case on 30 June 2020, which will be carried out using video conference technology and with the physical presence of some of the members of the Court at the Court’s headquarters, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. ;
AGREE
FIRST. Reiterate that, under the spirit and letter of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, the signatory parties committed themselves, “to seeking satisfactory solutions to the practical settlement of the dispute,” thus allowing our just and legitimate claim over Essequibo to be unable be judicialized and subject to the knowledge of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
SECOND. Ratify that the International Court of Justice lacks jurisdiction to hear and decide the claim filed by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, as in accordance with article 36 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Venezuela has not consented to submit to that jurisdiction, nor does it exist in the 1966 Geneva Agreement express any provision recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
THIRD. Reiterate that Venezuela’s consent to submit to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice cannot be subjugated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who can only seek the resolution of the dispute while respecting the purpose of the Geneva Agreement according to the dispute settlement mechanisms derived from Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations that are compatible with that purpose or which, in any case, have been expressly consented by States parties.
FOURTH. Ratify the rejection of the negligent actions and omissions of the regime of Hugo Chavez and the usurper regime of Nicolás Maduro in the defense and protection of the territorial integrity of our country in accordance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
FIFTH. To agree that the National Assembly, as the only elected authority recognized as such and holder of the Legislative Power, should raise Venezuela’s legal position before the International Court in relation to the claim raised by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
SIXTH. Publicize this Parliamentary Agreement and request the President (E) of the Republic, Juan Gerardo Guaidó Marquez, to send him to UN Secretary General Dr. Antonio Guterres, to the Registrar of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Mr. Phillipe Couvreur, the governments of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, through our designated diplomatic representatives abroad, and the diplomatic representatives of the Commonwealth accredited in Venezuela.
Given, signed and sealed in virtual session of the National Assembly, held by decision of the Management Board and in accordance with the provisions of articles 13, 4 and 56, last separate, of the Rules of Procedure and of the Rules of Procedure Debates of the National Assembly, due to the usurpation that Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship holds on the facilities of the Federal Legislative Palace, at ___ June 2020., 2020. years 210th of independence and 161 or of the Federation.
