Representative of the three-party Joinder list and Deputy Speaker, Dr. Asha Kissoon, today condemned the “continued contemptuous claims” by Venezuela of Guyana’s Essequibo region.

Lending her voice at the Extraordinary Sitting of the National Assembly on the border issue, Dr. Kissoon condemned the planned Venezuelan referendum. 

“For the thousands of people at home, what Venezuela is saying to us, to our nation is that they have no regard for what the International Court of Justice says, that they have intentions of making our Guyanese citizens, Venezuelans in order to take the territory. We condemn this referendum and we will not be having it,” Dr. Kissoon said today during her statement.

She told the House that Guyana has been a peaceful nation, even though Venezuela has been engaged in acts of provocation, adding that Venezuela’s posture at Guyana’s borders and the rhetoric being peddled in that country is unsettling.

“While we all agree that this is contemptuous of the legal process prevailing before the International Court of Justice, I express my displeasure by the disrespect shown by the Republic of Venezuela for Guyana and its territorial integrity, “the Deputy Speaker said.

The Opposition MP said Guyana must continue to demonstrate that the legal process currently ongoing before the ICJ, is its weapon and it must not fall into Venezuela’s trap.

According to Dr. Kissoon, unity among Guyanese at this time is paramount. She heaped praise on the Government and her fellow Opposition Members for putting their differences aside, as they all stand united on the border controversy.

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