ExxonMobil’s Deepwater Champion which is drilling for oil off Guyana.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Tuesday June 9, 2015 – Guyana has declared it will fight Venezuela’s president Nicholas Maduro who issued a presidential decree claiming more than two-thirds of its territory, including the maritime area where ExxonMobil recently found a significant oil deposit.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the decree issued last month is a “flagrant violation of international law” and Guyana “rejects this illegality which seeks to undermine our efforts at development through the exploitation of our natural resources offshore”.
“Any attempt by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to apply that instrument in an extra-territorial manner will be vigorously resisted . . . In light of this Guyana will spare no effort in bringing to the attention of the international community this aggressive and illegal act by Venezuela,” it said, adding that Maduro’s decree is “inconsistent with the principle that all states should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states, large and small” and presents a threat to regional peace and security and breaches the Geneva Agreement of 1966.
“It is international law that must reign supreme and not the ambitions of a larger state which wishes to trample upon the rights of a smaller country in order to obstruct the sovereign right of Guyana to develop its natural resources.”
The ministry pointed out that the boundary between Guyana and its larger neighbour was determined ages ago.
“The land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela which was defined by the Arbitral Award of 1899, is recognized by all states. Venezuela also recognized its border with Guyana as settled for over 60 , having also participated in the demarcation of this established boundary which was completed in 1905,” it said.
The main opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has supported the government’s position.