- UN Security Council to meet Friday to consider Guyana’s request regarding the border controversy
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is slated to meet on Friday, December 8, to examine Guyana’s appeal about new developments in the ongoing border dispute with Venezuela.
During a news conference at the President’s Office on Thursday, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo stated that the meeting is scheduled to begin at approximately 03:00 hours (03:00 pm).
Dr. Jagdeo stated that the administration is delighted that the security council has taken this situation seriously.
“Also that the United Nations Secretary General has sent to the Security Council, the provisional measures announced by the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” the vice-president said.
This implies that every member of the Security Council now receives the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) December 1 verdict on Guyana’s request for interim measures.
The ICJ’s decision stated unequivocally:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall avoid from adopting any action that would alter the current status in the disputed territory, in which the Cooperative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises power.
Both parties must avoid from taking any activity that will worsen or prolong the disagreement in court or make it more difficult to resolve.
“We expect the Security Council to deal with this matter swiftly,” a senior government source told reporters.
Guyana officially wrote to the UN Security Council on December 5 after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced administrative actions aimed at illegally taking Essequibo County on December 4. He also ordered all investors in the exclusive economic zone to leave within three months.
Guyana is set to become a non-permanent member of the Security Council, serving from 2024 to 2025.
Permanent members such as the United States of America and others have already expressed an interest in collaborating with Guyana after it takes up its non-permanent membership on the UN Security Council in January 2024.