Guyana-born international diplomat Sir Shridath Ramphal today (Wednesday) said that the decision taken by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy would be legally binding and hence would have to be accepted by the parties involved.
“The decision of the court will be binding. It is not going to be in an advisory capacity. Unfortunately, some pretty wild things have been said in Guyana which are far from legally accurate… Don’t be misguided by these wild opinions. This is not a time for Guyana to argue these issues in Guyana with Guyana,” he said.
Speaking during a side interview at the opening of inaugural Guyana International Petroleum Business Exhibition (GIPEX) summit at the Marriott Hotel this morning, Ramphal said whether or not Venezuela heeded the advice of the United Nations and went to the ICJ to fight the matter, “Guyana is moving forward.”
He related that the process to have a final settlement to this issue could take years, which to a large extent has a lot to do with how Venezuela responds to the matter.
He has also advised that the team that won the border matter against Suriname should be reassembled to handle the border controversy with Venezuela.
The international diplomat, who also happens to be Guyana’s top legal adviser in the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, told the media today that finding the legal fees to pay a team to represent Guyana is miniature.
Venezuela has already rejected the decision taken by the UN to have the border controversy settled by the ICJ.
The Guyana Government had said it plans to use a signing bonus of US$18M received from ExxonMobil to stand the expense of a legal team.
