Venezuela’s credibility, integrity will be tested at ICJ – Jeffrey

Once a decision is made by the United Nations to send the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the credibility of the Nicolás Maduro Government of Venezuela will be tested, former Foreign Affairs Minister Henry Jeffrey has said.
Dr Jeffrey’s statement comes on the heels of delays by the UN in announcing its decision on whether to send the matter before the ICJ. The former Minister is of the opinion that the present Venezuelan Government is too weak to carry that argument to its people to have the border controversy resolved.
“So you really need a strong regime in Venezuela to be able to make a credible showing at the ICJ to sell that to the Venezuelan people. That does not exist at the moment. Venezuela wouldn’t want to go in the first place, but if they had a strong Government at least they could have said that they are going. Right now, they have a weak Government and that is something to think about,” he explained.

The former Minister claimed that while many Venezuelans believe that the Essequibo belongs to their country, especially since they have been repeatedly told this since the 1960s, going to the ICJ might be the best decision, but there could be several implications for the Government.
At present, Venezuela is facing several international sanctions over rights and corruption allegations. Support for Maduro’s Administration has fallen off sharply as Venezuela’s economy has plunged deeper into crisis marked by widespread shortages and a rise in inflation.
However, Maduro plans to stand for re-election in a presidential vote due by the end of April. It has already been made known; however, that should the presidential vote be perceived as fraudulent, further foreign sanctions would be initiated, including from United States President Donald Trump.

Jeffrey believes that the issues facing Venezuela will be endless. “That is not going to finish in Venezuela anytime soon, especially for a government of some standing to come into being that can negotiate this. The Government now has no capacity to do that,” he added.
As such, the former Minister said more attention should be paid at managing the relationship with Venezuela, to get a positive outcome for Guyana. He said the delay by the UN was no reason for Guyana to put its hand up. “I don’t believe that these border issues are settled that easily and overnight.”
He continued, “Going to the ICJ in my view would be a moral victory and it might well give us some sort of leverage in terms of future investment in the region with Venezuela, but it would not end the border… [controversy]. The Venezuelans in my view would not accept it in the first place.”
Arguing that border issues are not solved effortlessly, even when the matter is taken to the ICJ, Dr Jeffrey declared that both sides of the political divide in Venezuela were united on the issue.
“So I believe what we are struggling here for is some kind of leverage and moral authority. I doubt it would solve the problem in any sensible way, or in a way we would like to see it solved,” he reiterated.
Current Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge said recently that following the end of the Good Offices Process on December 31, 2017, UN Secretary General António Guterres could take two years to decide on the next move regarding the border controversy.
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had given an undertaking that 2017 would have been the last year of mediation to end the border controversy. If that process failed, the controversy would be referred to the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the UN.
Guyana maintains that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award that settled the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was full and final. But Venezuela has, for several decades, registered its diplomatic and military objection to Guyana’s development of its natural resources onshore and offshore.
Venezuela, with almost 40 times the population of Guyana and a territory that is several times bigger, purported to claim in 1968 the entire territorial sea of Guyana by means of the Leoni Decree, which has never been withdrawn.
Relations between Guyana and Venezuela have worsened ever since oil giant ExxonMobil announced in 2015 that it had found oil in Guyana. Venezuela has staunchly been against oil exploration in Guyana’s Stabroek Block, where multiple oil deposits have been found by ExxonMobil.
In fact, Venezuela’s National Assembly had approved an agreement to reject the oil exploration activities in March 2017.