Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute: Meeting in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines

2023-12-09 22:34:00
Venezuela and Guyana will hold a meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to resolve the dispute over Essequibo

Venezuela and Guyana agreed to meet in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to debate and try to reach an agreement regarding the conflict over Essequibo. This was confirmed this Saturday by the host country, which mentioned that the dictator Nicolás Maduro and President Irfaan Ali agreed to the meeting “under the auspices of CELAC” – the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – “and CARICOM” – the Community from the Caribbean-.

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According to the prime minister of the host country, Ralph Gonsalves, the talks on “matters related to the border controversy” will be held on December 14 at 10:00 a.m. in the presence of the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who for His closeness to the conflict remained active in his calls for peace in recent days.

“Given the events and circumstances surrounding the territorial dispute (…) we have assessed, in the interest of all (…), the urgent need to defuse the conflict and institute appropriate dialogue, face to face, between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela. “Both have been in favor of this position in the search for peaceful coexistence,” the official note noted.

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For their part, from the Miraflores Palace they confirmed that “the proposal was received to hold a high-level meeting with Guyana, which will be announced in the coming days, in order to preserve our aspiration to maintain Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, without interference from external actors”, while the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, indicated his commitment to “promote efforts in favor of direct dialogue between the parties.”

Ralph Gonsalves will receive, together with members of CELAC and CARICOM, the leaders of Guyana and Venezuela for the mediations for Essequibo (REUTERS)

For hundreds of years, Venezuela has maintained its claim for control of this area in the neighboring country, known as Essequibo, which in recent weeks was put back on the table due to its vast oil reserves and Maduro’s personal interests.

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Thus, last Sunday, Caracas launched a popular consultation in which – according to what was stated – more than 95% of Venezuelans voted in favor of action on the claims for “the historical position on the unquestionable rights” of the country. Since then, Maduro only redoubled the bet and announced his first initiatives to annex the territory and convert it into the Venezuelan State of Guayana Esequiba.

Maduro announced the first measures to annex the territory and convert it into the Venezuelan State of Guayana Esequiba (REUTERS)

Ali denounced this initiative as a “threat to the stability of the region, to Guyana and to the companies that operate here” and recalled that “the (International Court of Justice) ordered that the status quo must remain, that is, that Essequibo is part of the territory of Guyana and Guyana administers governance there.”

In the midst of these crossings, which also caught the attention of the international community, which advocated for a peaceful and diplomatic solution, Brazil reinforced security on its border by sending more officers and armored cars while Lula asked in the last hours Maduro does not take “unilateral measures” that increase tension.

“Lula emphasized the importance of avoiding unilateral measures that might aggravate the situation” in Essequibo and expressed his “growing concern” and that of “the countries of South America.” He also “explained the terms of the declaration on the subject, approved on Thursday at the Mercosur Summit, and reminded him of the long tradition of dialogue in Latin America and that we are a region of peace,” Brasilia added in a statement.

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