Parlatino-Venezuela rejects plans to drill oil wells off the Essequibo coast

Published at: 09/02/2024 10:50 AM

The Venezuelan Parliamentary Group of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino-Venezuela) rejects ExxonMobil's announcements of oil exploration and exploitation in the waters of the Essequibo territory, thus violating the Argyle Accords, signed on December 15.

Deputy Ángel Rodríguez, president of Parlatino-Venezuela, described as a new war action against Venezuela the announcements made by the president of ExxonMobil, Alistair Routledge, about plans to drill two oil wells off the coast of Guyana.

“The Argyle Accords, signed in December, committed both Venezuela and Guyana to maintaining peace in the region. This, apparently, has been forgotten by the Guyanese authorities by allowing the transnational corporation to develop its projects in a maritime area that has not yet been delimited,” said Rodríguez.

He stressed that the ExxonMobil announcements not only undermine the Argyle agreements, but also international legality and those signed in Barbados, while jeopardizing peace in the region, violating the commitment to maintaining good neighborhoods, peaceful coexistence and Latin American and Caribbean unity.

According to the Argyle Accords, Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, will not threaten or use force each other under any circumstances, including those deriving from any existing dispute between the two states; the dispute between the two nations will be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement of February 17, 1966.

Ángel Rodríguez argues that in the dispute over the Essequibo there are legal obligations for both Venezuela and Guyana; however, he added, that ExxonMobil, with the support of the government of Guyana and the United States, is causing an international conflict that must be rejected.

“From the Parlatino-Venezuela, we denounce that ExxonMobil, once again, seeks to subrogate the sovereignty of Guyana in a maritime area yet to be delimited, which represents a flagrant violation of the signed agreements. Therefore, we ask the international community for a statement, because we believe that these events jeopardize peace in the region,” he concluded.

AN