Foreign Affairs Ministry refutes Venezuela’s claims of being ‘blindsided’

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has refuted Venezuela’s statement that it was not informed of Guyana’s application for the extension of the continental shelf until September 7. According to that ministry, since 2009, Guyana submitted its claim for the extension of the continental shelf to the Venezuelan Embassy here under cover of a note verbale.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Tuesday release said that the Venezuelan Embassy was issued a copy of the preliminary information, which was submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

“That document constitutes the executive summary of Guyana’s full submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, except for the fact that it has adjusted coordinates for the outer limits of the extended continental shelf based on additional seismic data that were obtained after May 2009.” The release continued: “The government of Guyana wishes to state that, as was made pellucid in Guyana’s submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Guyana’s submission of information and data pursuant to Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is without prejudice to any future maritime delimitation exercise with neighbouring states. The communiqué from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela recognizes that fact, since it declares that the submission of the Republic of Guyana does not prejudge eventual maritime delimitation between Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

Guyana’s response came as a result of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry stating on Monday that Guyana’s application to the United Nations to expand its continental shelf’s outer sea limits from 200 to 350 miles constitutes an “irregular situation”, while chastising Guyana for not informing Venezuela directly.

“The government of Guyana notes that the Good Officer Process of the United Nations Secretary General has a clear mandate, as stated in the Geneva Agreement of 1966.

“That process therefore relates exclusively to the resolution of the controversy that has arisen from the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, that definitively delimited the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, is null and void.”

Accordingly, the Guyana government said, it values the relations between the two countries, and it was as a result of that good relationship that the two countries have shared that information about Guyana’s plans to apply for an extension of the continental shelf was relayed to the Venezuelan Embassy.

Venezuela said that, on September 7 2011, it received the official notification that Guyana had lodged a presentation on the outer limits of its continental shelf with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCF). It noted that the submission was made within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which this country belongs to.

“The Bolivarian Government, by acting responsibly, has proceeded to evaluate this irregular situation in order to respond correctly in the light of international law, and it is taking the necessary actions to preserve its right on the projection of its seafront.

“The government of Venezuela reiterates that this presentation does not prejudice matters relating to the establishment of maritime borders between Venezuela and Guyana; and is concerned, since it has ascertained that the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana did not previously inform of this action, although fluid communication mechanisms like the Good Officer of the Office of the UN Secretary General, or the permanent bilateral dialogue the authorities of both countries keep at the highest level, exist.”

“President Hugo Chavez has implemented a correct policy of peace, sovereignty and respect for international law towards Guyana, that contrasts with the old warmongering and threatening attitudes of the Venezuelan bourgeoisie, whose only aim was to harass the progressive governments of this fraternal republic according to the intentions of imperial powers.”

Venezuela reaffirmed its commitment to the process of the Good Officer of the Office of the UN Secretary General.