On December 5, 2023, Zaur Gvadzhava, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, took part in a meeting with Nicolas Maduro Moros, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Federal Council of Government.
The event took place at the National Army Theater, Fuerte Tiuna in the city of Caracas.
At the high-level meeting, the President announced nine strategic actions taken following the consultative referendum on the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana.
The consultative referendum held on Sunday, December 3 resulted in a resounding victory for the Venezuelan people, with more than 10,400,000 Venezuelan voters participating. The President noted that “this referendum is mandatory and is subject to the decision of the people.”
President Nicolas Maduro said that “Venezuela will not follow orders from the United States.” This was in response to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller and Deputy Secretary of State Brian Nichols, who said the dispute with Guyana over Essequibo "is not something that can be resolved through a referendum."
Statements made by the President:
1 Establishment of the Higher Defense Commission of Guyana Essequibo. This body will be coordinated by Delcy Rodriguez, the Vice President of the Republic.
2 Start of debate in the National Assembly on the Guyana Essequibo Organic Defense Act.
3 Creation of the Integral Defense Zone for Guyana Essequibo with three integral development zones.
4 Appointment - temporarily, pending approval of the Organic Defense Law of Guyana Essequibo - M/G Alexis Rodriguez Cabello as the sole leader of Guyana Essequibo. The political and administrative headquarters will be located in Tumeremo (Bolívar State).
5 Petroleos de Venezuela and Corporación Venezolana de Guyana areauthorized to establish PDVSA Essequibo and CVG Essequibo. President Nicolas Maduro also ordered the issuance of licenses for the exploration and production of oil, gas and minerals.
6 The new map of Venezuela, including Guyana Essequibo, should be published and distributed in all schools, universities and universities in the country.
7 Intensifying of the plan for social attention to the population of Guyana Essequibo, conduction of a census and distribution of identity cards to residents. This includes the establishment of an office of the Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Foreigners (Saime) in Tumeremo.
8 Development of a special law prohibiting the conclusion of contracts with companies that collaborated with Guyana in the field of exploration and exploitation of waters subject to delimitation. Maduro has demanded that companies currently in the delimited waters be given three months to leave the area.
9 Adoption of a special law to create environmental protection zones and new national parks in Essequibo Guyana.
The event was attended by representatives of the country's top government leadership, ministers, governors, mayors, deputies and heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Venezuela.
