UN Security Council holds meeting over Essequibo dispute between Guyana and Venezuela

The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Guyana-Venezuela territorial disputes over the Essequibo region in Guyana on Tuesday. The meeting was private in nature and was held with the aim of discussing the progress made in the case of a land dispute between the two countries.

The meeting was addressed and briefed by Miroslav Jenča, the Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas.

Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana requested this meeting on 5^th April from the council on the grounds of Guyana being a member of the council. Venezuela is bound to participate in the meeting under the rule of Section 37 in the Council’s rule of procedure. [caption id="attachment_70290" align="aligncenter" width="330"] Irfaan Ali requested the UN Security Council meeting over the disputed land of Essequibo. (Image Credit Wikipedia)[/caption] The dispute is over the 160,000km square of land in Essequibo region, which is heavily forested and contributes almost two-thirds of the Guyana’s area and also serves as the habitat for a large number of Guyanese citizens. Since the time of independence, the stretch was disputed. Venezuela argued that the British took hold of the supposed Venezuela region which lied in British Guiana and claimed it since 1840s.

However, Venezuela became more recurrent in its demand for the land after the discovery of oil in the Essequibo region. Afterwards in 2018 Guyana retaliated against Venezuela by filing a case in the International Court of Justice, in which the court gave its jurisdiction to go through the claims made by Guyana. However, Venezuela declared this judgement biased and decided to take a step back from the further proceedings.

Venezuela held a public poll in 2018 asking the Venezuelan citizens to answer five questions regarding the incorporation of the Essequibo region. This was done in contradiction to the court’s order which stated no action to be taken that can lead to aggravation in the disputes. This called for the last conducted meeting on the territorial dispute requested by Guyana.

The recent meeting was held to address the “Organic Law for the Defense of Guyana Essequibo” which was signed by Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela. Ali raised his concerns regarding the law, that it seems to strengthen Venezuela’s intent to take over more than two thirds of Guyana’s sovereign land.

[caption id="attachment_70289" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela. (Image Credit CNN)[/caption]

Ali considers making of this law as a breach of international law established by the UN Charter and will hamper with the intentions of Argyle Declaration.

In the held meeting many council members were expected to raise their concerns over the acts of Venezuela and ensure peaceful resolutions in the interest of both the countries.