Ahead of Venezuela’s planned “sham” elections this Sunday to elect a Governor and officials for Guyana’s Essequibo region, Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, made it clear today that Guyana will not be intimidated or bullied by Venezuela and its acts of provocation.

Todd said from all indications, there has been no campaigning for the elections on Guyana’s territory, but Guyana is taking the matter seriously and has activated all diplomatic and legal options available.

Debating on a motion in the National Assembly this morning to denounce Venezuela’s planned election, the Foreign Minister said Venezuela continues to act in total defiance of the International Court of Justice’s orders.

“While our intelligence is that there is currently no physical activity taking place in any of our communities close to the border or suggest that there is any preparation for elections to be conducted in our Essequibo, it is important for Venezuela to understand that Guyana will not bullied, threatened or intimidated to surrender any portion of our territory,” Mr. Todd told the house.

The Foreign Minister told the National Assembly that Guyana has used and continues to use every diplomatic and legal channel available to raise the issue of Venezuela’s aggression.

He said Guyana remains committed to the process of international law to resolve the matter.

Todd detailed Venezuela’s sustained aggression of harassment, threats, and incursions over the years and said at one point in late 2023, Venezuela was preparing to use military aggression against Guyana.

“Mr. Speaker, on each and every occasion that I have mentioned here where Venezuela violated our territorial integrity, we took immediate, decisive and strategic action. We first lodged a protest with Venezuela, secondly, we re-informed the International Court of Justice of the belligerent action of Venezuela in a matter that is currently before it,” the Foreign Minister said.

The Foreign Minister  said the Government has already started to ramp up diplomatic pressure abroad. He said the United Nations Secretary General and the ICJ are now both in possession of information chronicling Venezuela’s actions and he believes this too will significantly boost Guyana’s case.

“We have significantly intensify our legal and diplomatic efforts to preserve our sovereignty and territorial integrity, in response to Venezuela’s escalating claims over our Essequibo region. On the legal front, you aware that March 2018 file and application instituting proceedings against Venezuela in which it ask the Court to declare that the 1899 Arbitral award is valid and binding to both sides and that lawful international boundary is the one established by the said award,” Minister Todd stated.

The Foreign Minister also sought to explain a recent ICJ decision where three Judges dissented.

He said the dissent was due to procedure and not Guyana’s case explaining that the Justices agree in substance that Venezuela must refrain from planning the election and that their dissent was based on the fact that the Court had already issued a decision to bar the elections and there was no need to do that again.

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