The National Government lamented on Thursday the biased pronouncement issued by the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) on the incursion of hydrocarbon exploration vessels, contracted by Guyana, into jurisdictional waters of Venezuela.
A statement released by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs responded to “inaccurate assumptions” that result from “having only the version of one of the parties” on the event that happened on Saturday, December 22.
In this regard, the Nation regrets that Caricom has not made contact with Venezuelan authorities to “know the position of the other party on the issue” and thus ensure a balanced character in subsequent pronouncements.
The Foreign Ministry of the Republic, in the name of Venezuela, ratified that they will continue to exercise their sovereign rights before acts of this nature, while pointing out that they maintain the hope of a more equitable position of Caricom.
On December 24, the Caribbean organization expressed “great concern” about the incident in waters within the projection of the Venezuelan Orinoco Delta and indicated that the protocols applied by the Bolivarian National Navy allegedly violate the sovereign rights of Guyana and represent “a threat” to their economic development.
The intercepted vessels were on the maritime shelf of the Orinoco Delta and not in an Economic Zone of Guyana, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement dated December 25.
Below, the full statement of the document released this Thursday:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has learned of a communiqué from the Pro Tempore Presidency (PPT) of the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom), published on December 24, 2018. On the matter, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela considers The assumptions that motivate the pronouncement of the Caricom PPT are absolutely inaccurate, which is the result of having only the version of one of the parties on the facts.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela regrets that although there is an excellent political-diplomatic relationship and a fluid communication with Caricom, its PPT has not established contact with the Venezuelan authorities to know the position of the other party on the issue, thus guaranteeing the best balance possible before issuing an opinion like the one exposed.
On this basis, what the reality reveals has been the incursion of boats not authorized to enter the waters of the exclusive jurisdiction of Venezuela, within the natural projection of its Delta Amacuro, where they pretended to carry out activities of hydrocarbon exploration facilitated by Guyana.
This fact was detected by Venezuela on 12/22/18 when, as has been its peaceful practice for decades, the Venezuelan Navy was patrolling the Atlantic facade of the natural projection of its Delta Amacuro. The commander of the Venezuelan naval unit, without any interception or boarding, informed those ships that were in waters of Venezuelan jurisdiction where they were not authorized to conduct exploration activities, which is why they proceeded to withdraw.
In spite of the prudence applied by Venezuela, a fact of this nature does not cease to be worrisome, as it constitutes an unprecedented incursion in Venezuelan territorial maritime space, a lamentable consequence of the Guyanese pretension to dispose unilaterally of jurisdictional waters from other states.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will continue to exercise and defend its sovereign rights firmly and in an unprecedented case like this one, it will do so in an unrestricted manner as well as in accordance with International Law, while it hopes for a more balanced position of Caricom, as was in general its tradition, above all in accordance with the truth and in honor of the principles of Public International Law.
Caracas, December 27, 2018.
Translation by Internationalist 360°
