NOTES ON THE ARGYLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GUYANA  AND VENEZUELA.

DECEMBER 13, 2023.

By Dr. Abiola Inniss 

 

No. 8 of the agreement makes Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines ,  Rooseveldt Skerrit , and Brazil’s Ignacio Da Silva the substantive interlocutors in the border dispute and relegates the United Nations Secretary General to observer. NO MATTER WHO HOLDS THE OFFICE,it is the effective comptroller of the most powerful and effective internaional diplomatic organization in the world. The United Nations was created after the failed League of Nations following World War 2 for the purpose of instititionalizing diplomatic relations among nations.  

 Can these individuals who have temporary political office, and in the case of Gonsalves no real international diplomatic influence hold Venezuela to account? 

 

HOW IS THIS A WIN FOR GUYANA?    

  

This agreement weakens the diplomatic leverage that Guyana held one day ago and places Venezuela where it wants to be . It is now in a position through the new border commission to object to any developments of Essequibo in a formalised manner through interlocutors viv a vis the new border commission and to cause no end of problems for Guyana. 

 

Section 8 of the infamous Argyle agreement. 

 

8. Both States agreed that Prime Minister Ralph E. Gonsalves, the Pro-Tempore President of CELAC, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, the incumbent CARICOM Chairman, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil will remain seized of the matter as Interlocutors and the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres as Observer, with the ongoing concurrence of Presidents Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro. For the avoidance of doubt, Prime Minister Gonsalves’ role will continue even after Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ceases to be the Pro-Tempore President of CELAC, within the framework of the CELAC Troika plus one; and Prime Minister Skerrit’s role will continue as a member of the CARICOM Bureau. 

  

Maduro tweeted earlier tonight that the agreement is a win for Venezuela and he may be right. Venezuela has not relinquished its claim on Essequibo and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ, but has managed to wheedle its way into Guyana’s affairs via CARICOM.  

 

The Argyle agreement will result in considerable troubles for Guyana unless it undergoes substantial revision. 

  

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