By Caribbean News Global 
WASHINGTON, USA – The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemns the illegal detention by the Venezuelan dictatorship of two Guyanese registered fishing vessels and their crew who were located within the Cooperative Republic of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“The General Secretariat demands that the Guyanese citizens are released promptly and safely to Guyanese authorities, as well as the two detained vessels. Moreover, the General Secretariat reiterates its support for the rules and processes set by international law regarding ongoing territorial conflicts.”
The government of Guyana has condemned the Venezuelan action that amounts to an interference with the sovereign rights of Guyana in its EEZ, contrary to international law.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro this month issued a decree creating “a new maritime territory of Venezuela called ‘Territory for the development of the Atlantic Façade’”, encompassing Guyana’s territorial waters, EEZ and continental shelf, as well as its land territory west of the Essequibo River.
The government of Belize has registered serious concern regarding official reports of 12 Guyanese nationals and their vessels, the “Lady Nayera” and the “Sea Wolf,” which were intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy the “Comandante Hugo Chavez GC 24” in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone and subsequently detained at Port Guiria, Venezuela on Thursday, January 21, 2021; called on the government of Venezuela to respect international law.
A statement by CARICOM on the Guyana – Venezuela border controversy says it “is deeply disappointed and concerned at the decree and subsequent statements by Venezuela with respect to that country’s border controversy with Guyana, including intimations of the creation of a strategic area of national development called “Territory for the Development of the Atlantic Façade”.
“The resolution of the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana is a matter that lies under international jurisdiction, and cannot be settled by unilateral actions. Any attempt to derail this international legal process, such as the decree issued by the Maduro regime, is contrary to international law and standards and has no legal bearing or significance,” the OAS said in a statement.