The presidents of Venezuela and Guyana will meet on Thursday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines over the dispute over the oil-rich territory of Essequibo claimed by Caracas, the host archipelago’s government announced today.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is trying to mediate the conflict, will attend “at the request” of both sides.
Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Irfaan Ali accepted “this meeting held under the auspices of CELAC”, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, of which the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, holds the rotating presidency”, and CARICOM’ , the Caribbean Community said in a statement from the head of government of the archipelago that will host the meeting.
“Let us all resolve to make this historic meeting a success,” concluded Ralph Gonsalves.
Caracas had already announced a “high-level” meeting, following talks today between Presidents Maduro and Lula.
Lula da Silva had advised his Venezuelan counterpart in a telephone conversation not to take “unilateral measures” that would worsen the border conflict between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana.
The president of Brazil, whose government sent military reinforcements to the northern border, also echoed the “growing concerns” of other South American countries, which in a joint statement on Thursday evening had “invited both sides to dialogue and the search for a peaceful solution.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro followed suit, saying on the X Network (formerly Twitter) that “the greatest misfortune that could happen to South America would be a war.”
The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, also spoke by telephone with the UN Secretary General about the dispute with Guyana over the territory of Essequibo.
In a statement released Saturday evening, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that ‘President Nicolás Maduro spoke with the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, who committed to promoting efforts in favor of direct dialogue between the parties and recalled that he has made his resources available to solve problems. the disagreement”.
The Essequibo region, which appears on Venezuelan maps as a “zone under claim,” has been under UN mediation since 1966, when the Geneva Agreement was signed.
The discovery of vast oil deposits by US company ExxonMobil in 2015 and Guyana’s bids for exploration in the area have revived the long-running dispute over Essequibo, a 160,000 square kilometer area administered by Guyana but which Venezuela claims, with the argument that the real border is the one dating back to the Spanish Empire in 1777.
The two countries have been trading accusations for several days and the UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday evening, but there was no explanation or communication at the end of the meeting.
Source: DN
