This Monday, the Executive Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, arrived in The Hague, administrative headquarters of the Netherlands, to defend the holding of the consultative referendum on the territory of Essequibo.
This was reported by Rodríguez, in his account on the social network X, where he wrote: “On behalf of President @NicolasMaduro we are in The Hague to defend Venezuela and its historical rights over the Essequibo Guayana. Nothing and no one will stop the expression of our people in the Consultative Referendum of this #3D”
In an audiovisual material posted on the post, Rodriguez, accompanied by Calixto Ortega and Larry Devoe, members of the delegation representing the country in the case of Essequibo, said: "We came to The Hague to defend Venezuela, our historic rights and to tell the world that nothing and no one will stop the consultative referendum in defense of our Essequibo on December 3 in Venezuela. So with great strength, accompanied by the will of our people, as one country, here we are in The Hague to defend Essequibo, on December 3, everyone to vote in our consultative referendum."
On behalf of Pdte. @NicolasMaduro We are in The Hague to defend Venezuela and its historical rights over Guayana Esequiba. Nothing and no one is going to stop the expression of our people in the Consultative Referendum of this #3D pic.twitter.com/bgIUjvRvF9
- Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) November 13, 2023
On Sunday, Rodríguez, in an interview for Venevisión, highlighted the full validity of the Geneva Agreement in the Essequibo controversy. “Exxon Mobil and Guyana have created a script to strip Venezuela of its territory. In national unity we raise our voices this December 3 in the consultative referendum.
He explained that the Geneva agreement establishes that it is maintained “until the parties find a solution that is satisfactory and practical, for both parties through direct political negotiations, through peaceful negotiations, through friendly negotiations.”
Likewise, he pointed out that the peace agreement recently signed in Barbados between the National Government and the opposition gathered in the Unitary Platform must be respected and without any type of blackmail.
Geneva Agreement
Venezuela recognizes as the only legal instrument to resolve this controversy the Geneva Agreement, signed in 1966 with the United Kingdom, before Guyanese independence, and which establishes bases for a negotiated solution.
However, in 2018 Guyana unilaterally went to the ICJ, the main judicial body of the United Nations (UN) to ask to resolve the dispute.
Tension between both nations was rekindled when last September, Guyana announced a round of bidding for oil blocks in the Essequibo region. Venezuela condemned the situation and triggered an exchange of diplomatic messages in which both countries accused each other of creating provocations.
