Regional Leaders Condemn Moves By Venezuela to Hold Elections in “Guayana Esequiba State”

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders say they have noted “with grave concern” statements made in Venezuela on the need to conduct elections in the Essequibo region of Guyana on April 27, 2025 for a “Governor” and “Legislative Council” of the so-called “Guayana Esequiba State”.

Informed sources told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the leaders discussed the issue at their summit which ended here last Friday.

CARICOM is yet to release a communique following he three-day summit, but the sources told CMC that the heads had received an update on the decades old border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela as well as between Belize and Guatemala as is customary at their summits.

According to the sources, the CARICOM leaders noted “with grave concern” the statements made by President Nicolas Maduro and the chairman of the National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso, in January this year, declaring their intention to conduct elections in the Essequibo region of Guyana on April 27.

The Venezuelans are planning to hold elections for a “Governor” and “Legislative Council” of the so-called “Guayana Esequiba State,” which Venezuela illegally purported to “annex” last year.

In 2023, Caracas claimed that more than half of eligible Venezuelan voters had taken part in a referendum that yielded overwhelming support for laying claim to the Essequibo.

Amoroso said more than 10.4 million out of 20.7 million eligible voters had cast their ballots.

The referendum came after the ICJ warned Caracas against “annexation” of the Essequibo, an oil-rich region that makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.

In January, the Guyana government expressed “grave concern” over what it claimed to have been “recent actions and statements” by the Venezuela government that constitute ”clear violations” of the Argyle Agreement and the binding order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), both of which came into effect in December 2023.

Georgetown recalled that the Argyle Agreement, signed in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2023 in the presence of regional and international interlocutors, unequivocally commits Guyana and Venezuela to refrain from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from the territorial controversy between the two States.

It said that this includes refraining from actions that could aggravate tensions or alter the current situation in the disputed territory, pending resolution in accordance with international law.

But Georgetown said that the announcement by President Nicolás Maduro on January 7, this year, regarding the election of a “Governor of the Guayana Esequiba” by “the people of Guayana Esequiba” constitutes a direct violation of these commitments.

According to the sources, the regional leaders have insisted that the convening of any such elections in Guyana’s territory would be contrary to general principles of international law, the United Nations Charter, the December 1, 2023, Order of the International Court of Justice and the agreements reached in the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela.

The sources said that the leaders are urging Venezuela not to attempt to carry out elections, or to intrude in any other way, in Guyana’s sovereign territory.

The CARICOM leaders have also condemned the attack earlier this month, said to have been committed by an armed group of men from Venezuela on members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) while they were carrying out their lawful business along the Guyana/ Venezuela border.

He incident is reported to have taken place on February 17, resulting in members of the GDF being hospitalized .

Regarding the ongoing case before the ICJ, the sources said that the regional leaders have welcomed the submission by Venezuela of its counter-memorial on April 8, 2024, on the merits of the case regarding the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award.

The sources said that the leaders have called on Caracas to submit its Rejoinder, the final written pleading in the case, on August 8, 2025, in compliance with the Court’s scheduling Order.

“They reiterated and underscored their unequivocal and unwavering support for the maintenance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana and for the judicial process before the Court as the means for resolving the controversy peacefully, finally and in accordance with international law,” the sources told CMC.

The two countries are before the ICJ concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 … which is pending before it.

The case, which was filed by Guyana in March 2018, seeks the court’s decision on the validity of the Arbitral Award which finally determined the land boundary between the two countries. The court has already ruled that it has jurisdiction over the controversy and will decide the issue on the merits of the case.

Meanwhile, regarding the Belize-Guatemala border dispute, the regional leaders commended the parties for seeking a peaceful resolution to all legal claims against Belize’s land and insular territories and any maritime areas pertaining to those territories.

According to the sources, they called on all Parties to abide by and implement the ICJ Organization of American States (OAS) continuing to fully implement the existing Confidence Building Measures.