In defiance of the ICJ, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro yesterday announced a series of steps following Sunday’s referendum on Essequibo including handing out of exploration licences in the county and President Irfaan Ali last night said Guyana has contacted the UN Secretary General on this “imminent threat” and the army is on full alert.
Ali in an 11.20 pm statement said, “I address you on an unsettling development in relation to the unlawful claim by Venezuela to Guyana’s Essequibo region which constitutes more than two thirds of Guyana’s national territory. (Yesterday) President Maduro announced several measures which his government intends to take in enforcing the outcome of the referendum held on December 3, 2023.”
Ali said that since the announcement of the referendum he had made it clear that it was a direct threat to Guyana’s territory, sovereignty and political independence.
