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REYES THEIS|  EL UNIVERSAL

Monday May 14, 2012  10:59 AM

On April 4, Guyana said in a letter submitted to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), that it has no territorial dispute with Venezuela. For its part, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) issued a communiquÉ last week supporting this position, but the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry remains silent on the issue.


"The Guyanese are very clear. They are preparing a case of estoppel," said Emilio Figueredo, a former Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and former negotiator in the dispute with Guyana.
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, estoppel is "a legal bar to alleging or denying a fact because of one's own previous actions or words to the contrary." It is used in international law and is related to the term acquiescence, which means agreement or consent by silence or without objection.


In other words, if Guyana adheres to the "estoppel" principle, it would argue that Venezuela's official silence means a tacit support to its position and Venezuela can not provide elements to contradict this principle.
Sadio Garavini, a diplomat and former ambassador to Guyana, supports Figueredo's view. "Guyana has taken note of acts and omissions that have occurred throughout these years," he said.


According to Garavini, acts made by the Venezuelan government with regard to this issue have gone to the extreme of making Guyana believe that Venezuela had decided to abandon the claim over the Essequibo.
"Allies" Venezuela has an extensive cooperation with the Caribbean countries through initiatives such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the regional energy and food security agreement Petrocaribe. However, according to analysts, these seeds are not bearing much fruit in the diplomatic arena.


"Venezuela fell into the trap set by the Caricom countries. Venezuelans believed that it could buy them through oil aid," Figueredo said when he referred to the statement submitted by the Caribbean Community supporting the Guyanese position.

http://www.eluniversal.com/nac...ela-has-not-interest

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Caribbean community unites against Venezuela's position

English-speaking Caribbean people formed a common front against Aves Island issue 

 
EL UNIVERSAL
Wednesday May 09, 2012  11:25 AM

The English-speaking Caribbean community is developing a series of projects in order to carry out sea negotiations with Venezuela in the best way possible.


The presentation made by Guyana to extend the Caribbean country's continental shelf by 150 nautical miles is part of a common strategy and a front with Caribbean countries in order to reject the insular nature of Aves Island (Isla de Aves), which is an important fact for Venezuela's maritime projection of the relevant coastlines.
A document on the Commonwealth's support to its members during 2008 and 2009, highlights the financial support to two projects. One of them, identified with the acronym PXGUY030, dwells on the support that Guyana received in order to present a request to extend the country's continental shelf. The submission was made in April this year.

Venezuela objected this presentation and stressed that it affects its Atlantic front, and it fails to recognize Venezuelan claim over the Essequibo region.
The other project, identified with the acronym PXOEC019, deals with a financial support to all the governments that belong to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in order to "harmonize the regional ability to negotiate sea boundaries, firstly with Venezuela."

Another Commonwealth document drafted in June 2010, points out that the delimitation of marine and submarine areas of states that do not belong to the OECS will be the top priority, as well as "maintaining a common position regarding Venezuela's boundaries and that Aves Island shall not have any weight" on the delimitation of maritime boundaries.


A working paper prepared in 2005 by the Caribbean Community (Caricom), calls attention to the need of establishing a common strategy involving Caricom and OECS Secretariats, even though the maritime delimitation "is mostly a bilateral issue between the coastal states involved, the preparation of the negotiation can be done mainly at a multilateral level in some cases." It also quotes as an example that "it is wise that OECS members - which are affected by Aves Island geographical location - have a common position regarding the treatment of that island for the purpose of delimitation with Venezuela."


All this is being done, despite the multiple alliances that the Venezuelan government has developed, such as Petrocaribe, in order to support Caribbean governments financially.

http://www.eluniversal.com/nac...-venezuelas-position

Sunil
Border | In claim over Essequibo


Former negotiator: Guyana is to argue that Venezuela has not interest.

Analysts believe that cooperation with Caricom has not reaped diplomatic benefits


REYES THEIS |  EL UNIVERSAL
Monday May 14, 2012  10:59 AM

Source

 

The letter that the Guyanese government forwarded to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claiming that there are no territorial disputes with Venezuela, was not answered (Handout photo)

 

On April 4, Guyana said in a letter submitted to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), that it has no territorial dispute with Venezuela. For its part, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) issued a communiqué last week supporting this position, but the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry remains silent on the issue.

"The Guyanese are very clear. They are preparing a case of estoppel," said Emilio Figueredo, a former Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and former negotiator in the dispute with Guyana.

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, estoppel is "a legal bar to alleging or denying a fact because of one's own previous actions or words to the contrary." It is used in international law and is related to the term acquiescence, which means agreement or consent by silence or without objection.

In other words, if Guyana adheres to the "estoppel" principle, it would argue that Venezuela's official silence means a tacit support to its position and Venezuela can not provide elements to contradict this principle.

Sadio Garavini, a diplomat and former ambassador to Guyana, supports Figueredo's view. "Guyana has taken note of acts and omissions that have occurred throughout these years," he said.

According to Garavini, acts made by the Venezuelan government with regard to this issue have gone to the extreme of making Guyana believe that Venezuela had decided to abandon the claim over the Essequibo.

"Allies"

Venezuela has an extensive cooperation with the Caribbean countries through initiatives such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the regional energy and food security agreement Petrocaribe. However, according to analysts, these seeds are not bearing much fruit in the diplomatic arena.

"Venezuela fell into the trap set by the Caricom countries. Venezuelans believed that it could buy them through oil aid," Figueredo said when he referred to the statement submitted by the Caribbean Community supporting the Guyanese position.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

FM

Now alyuh muss admit, abie trying fuh deal wid diss ting and dem bais ah wuk out wid Chavez.  Leh abie hope diss ting wuk out before Chavez croak and dem adda bais nah tun am upside donk.  Abie pon tapp.

FM

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