GEORGETOWN, Guyana– Attorney General Anil Nandlall says Guyana will be seeking global parliamentary support for its border dispute with Venezuela, particularly following the South American country’s latest claim to the Essequibo region that makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.

Nandlall, speaking on his weekly ‘Issues in the News’ broadcast on social media Tuesday night, said Georgetown welcomed the support given by delegates at the 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva last week.

Nandlall, who is also the Minister of Legal Affairs, had represented Guyana at the conference and told viewers that he intends to write all the countries that indicated support for the Caribbean Community (Caricom) country during the IPU Assembly, urging that they raise the matter in their respective parliaments.

“After the presentation, the Guyana delegation received widespread support and so what I plan to do is to write to the various parliaments who were present and who expressed their support to give effect to that support”.

He said he would be inviting them “to speak in their parliaments and to condemn the actions of Venezuela and to call on Venezuela to comply with international law, to call on Venezuela to accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” he added.

Nandlall said that he will also urge the parliamentarians “to demand that Venezuela employs diplomacy and dialogue rather than threats and confrontation.

“Once I write those letters and disseminate them, hopefully, the support which we received at that conference will then be translated into actions by the various parliamentarians in their respective parliaments around the world.”

The Attorney General said that Great Britain has already used “their parliament as a platform to condemn Venezuela and the posture that Venezuela has adopted on this matter.

“They did so in December 2023 and they were at the IPU conference and they came to us and reiterated “their support for Guyana and their condemnation of Venezuela,” he said, adding “So, we will see how that issue unfolds as time progresses”.

Late last month, Georgetown said it was “gravely concerned” at the decision of the National Assembly in Venezuela to adopt a law declaring the Essequibo region to be a constituent part of the South American country.

“This is in flagrant violation of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is in breach of the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the United Nations Charter,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement.

Guyana said it is also an egregious violation of the Order on provisional measures issued by the ICJ on December 1, 2023, and it is a violation of the Argyle Declaration of December 14, 2023, agreed to by the leaders of Caricom and Brazil, the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and by the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela,” it added.

The Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela said that the two countries agreed that “any controversies” between them would be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966.

The Joint Declaration issued, following talks in Kingstown, St Vincent last December, between President Irfaan Ali and President Nicolas Maduro over the disputed Essequibo region, also indicated that the two countries agreed that “any controversies” between them will be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966.

According to the joint declaration, the two leaders said they are committed to the pursuance of good neighbourliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean.

They noted Guyana’s assertion that it is committed to the process and procedures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the resolution of the border controversy as well as noting Venezuela’s assertion of its lack of consent and lack of recognition of the ICJ and its jurisdiction in the border controversy.

In its statement, the Guyana government said it remains committed to peace on its borders and in the region, but that “It will not allow its sovereignty and territorial territory to be usurped.

“Guyana will exert all of its efforts under international law to ensure that its sovereignty and territorial integrity remain intact.

Caracas has not responded to the statement by Guyana.