Tensions Flare at UN Human Rights Council as Venezuela Objects to Guyana’s Territorial Reference
By Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Diplomatic tensions between Guyana and Venezuela surfaced on the international stage Tuesday during the 49th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council, as Guyana raised the issue of Venezuela’s longstanding territorial claim.
Delivering opening remarks, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, highlighted that despite considerable national challenges, Guyana has achieved 6–7% progress across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She underscored that obstacles to development—including climate change and the “spurious” territorial claim by Venezuela—continue to hinder Guyana’s human rights progress.
Walrond’s reference to the dispute over the Essequibo region, however, prompted an immediate objection from Ambassador Alexander Yánez Deleuze, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva. Invoking Article 113 of the UN General Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, he demanded an intervention on a point of order.
“Territorial disputes are bilateral matters,” the Venezuelan envoy asserted, “and should not be raised in a multilateral human rights forum like the UPR.”
In response, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s permanent representative to the UN, strongly defended the inclusion of the issue, arguing that Venezuela’s aggression has direct consequences for the human rights and development of Guyanese citizens.
“Whatever threatens our development, threatens the human rights of our people. This territorial claim is one such threat,” Rodrigues-Birkett stated.
The Vice President of the Human Rights Council intervened briefly to remind all delegates to adhere to the procedural standards of the UPR and avoid “bilateralizing” the multilateral platform.
Rodrigues-Birkett maintained Guyana’s position, clarifying that the country was merely fulfilling its UPR obligation to report threats to human rights, and insisted the reference was both relevant and necessary.
This exchange came just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Venezuela must suspend its plans to hold elections in Guyana’s Essequibo region—a decision that Caracas promptly rejected, stating it does not recognize the ICJ’s jurisdiction and would not comply with the ruling.
The territorial controversy over two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, awarded by arbitration in 1899, remains a key national security and diplomatic concern for the country and has grown more contentious amid Venezuela’s renewed claims and Guyana’s burgeoning oil sector.
