Patricia Scotland says Commonwealth stands with Guyana against Venezuela’s Essequibo Law

Patricia Scotland, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, sided with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali after President Nicholas Maduro came out with the Organic Law for the Defense of Essequibo recently.

President Ali sent a letter to Patricia Scotland in which he delineated how President Maduro and his lackies in Venezuela are progressing rapidly towards carrying out their plan for capturing a large portion of Guyana’s sovereign territory.

Scotland herself admitted that after looking at the situation with a discerning eye, she has come to realize that the Maduro government is clearly looking to extend its influence over the region to include Essequibo, which makes up two-third of the entire landmass of Guyana.

Venezuela will look to establish a separate state in Essequibo which will be under the leadership of governor appointed by President Maduro himself and leave its legislative functions to the National Assembly of Venezuela.

This blatant shift in the nation’s tactics is quite obvious from the fact that the state of ‘Guyana Essequiba’ will now be included in the political maps of Venezuela, in an attempt to give the illegal seizure a degree of authenticity.

These steps taken by Venezuela violate the Provisional Measures outlined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the 1st of December, 2023. The measures were introduced to bring a level of stability to the fraught relations between Guyana and Venezuela before the court issues it final decision on the matter.

The Provisional Measure also state the following, “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Co-operative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over that area.”

Patricia Scotland stated the following after Venezuela’s Essequibo Law was pushed through on the 3rd of April, “Venezuela’s latest actions appear to directly contravene the ICJ Order and also the spirit of the 14 December 2023 Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela where both states agreed to use international law and diplomatic means to address the controversy and to refrain from escalating the conflict. The Commonwealth affirms that the ICJ process is the appropriate and lawful means to address the matter under international law.”

Scotland reminded people of her previous statements on the matter and specifically highlighted the Concluding Statement of the Sixty-Fourth Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, “I am encouraged by the firm and consistent support from the entire Commonwealth family for the Government and people of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. I also call on member states to give whatever support they may feel appropriate to Guyana in this time of need.”

She remains adamant that the commonwealth supports the pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.

She also urged the government and citizens of Venezuela to follow the tenants of international laws and respect the sovereignty of Guyana.