SARA CAROLINA DÍAZ| EL UNIVERSAL
Tuesday October 25, 2011 11:33 AM
Experts who think that the Foreign Ministry has failed to address seriously the delimitation of marine and submarine areas with Guyana rejected again the way Venezuela's government has managed a claim on the Essequibo territory.
On this occasion, a former Venezuelan ambassador criticized a section of the preamble to the draft 2012 Budget Law, in which the government states its intention to solve the delimitation of marine and submarine waters, but from a base point that, according to Guyana, marks the border with Venezuela, thus ignoring the Essequibo territory.
Sadio Garavini, a former Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana, said that he does not know whether the text that sets the Punta de Playa base point as the border with Guyana was drafted "because of the ignorance of the person who drafted the text or because of high treason." "It is a very serious fact. Punta de Playa cannot be set as the border with Guyana because such a move favors the thesis of the Arbitral Award (of 1899). This is the border established in the Award," he added.
Garavini referred to the text of the draft 2012 Budget Law: "If the Venezuelan government itself says that it intends to demarcate the border from Punta de Playa, it is clearly recognizing the sovereignty of Guyana in the zone in reclamation. Therefore, the fact that we have a zone in reclamation is either forgotten or ruled out. There are two possible explanations: First, there is huge incompetence because of the ignorance of the person who drafted the text or there is high treason. It could also be a combination of both. We do not know what happen there."
Venezuelan diplomats have questioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to demarcate marine and submarine waters with Guyana without taking into account the issue of the Essequibo territory.
Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas
http://www.eluniversal.com/nac...s-claim-on-essequibo
Tuesday October 25, 2011 11:33 AM
Experts who think that the Foreign Ministry has failed to address seriously the delimitation of marine and submarine areas with Guyana rejected again the way Venezuela's government has managed a claim on the Essequibo territory.
On this occasion, a former Venezuelan ambassador criticized a section of the preamble to the draft 2012 Budget Law, in which the government states its intention to solve the delimitation of marine and submarine waters, but from a base point that, according to Guyana, marks the border with Venezuela, thus ignoring the Essequibo territory.
Sadio Garavini, a former Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana, said that he does not know whether the text that sets the Punta de Playa base point as the border with Guyana was drafted "because of the ignorance of the person who drafted the text or because of high treason." "It is a very serious fact. Punta de Playa cannot be set as the border with Guyana because such a move favors the thesis of the Arbitral Award (of 1899). This is the border established in the Award," he added.
Garavini referred to the text of the draft 2012 Budget Law: "If the Venezuelan government itself says that it intends to demarcate the border from Punta de Playa, it is clearly recognizing the sovereignty of Guyana in the zone in reclamation. Therefore, the fact that we have a zone in reclamation is either forgotten or ruled out. There are two possible explanations: First, there is huge incompetence because of the ignorance of the person who drafted the text or there is high treason. It could also be a combination of both. We do not know what happen there."
Venezuelan diplomats have questioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to demarcate marine and submarine waters with Guyana without taking into account the issue of the Essequibo territory.
Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas
http://www.eluniversal.com/nac...s-claim-on-essequibo