Following intense diplomacy between the leaders of both nations, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Venezuela and Guyana have decided to hold a high-level meeting to discuss the status of the unsettled dispute relating the oil-rich Essequibo region.
The heavily wooded Essequibo area, which is about the size of Floria and makes up nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s land, is being threatened with annexation by the Venezuelan government in response to a statewide vote held. Guyana disagrees with Venezuela’s long-standing claims that it has a historical claim to the area. Current borders were established by international arbitrators in a decision from 1899.
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Gonsalves addressed a letter to both presidents, which CNN en Español obtained, outlining the proposed meeting’s December 14 location in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The correspondence details an “urgent need to de-escalate the conflict and institute an appropriate dialogue, face-to-face.”
https://e385fff52a798ab8ff7b13e97567ff9f.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html Lula of Brazil will also be extended an invitation to join the summit, according to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Brazil has a wide border shared by both nations and the disputed area.
Though they haven’t yet set a date, Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Irfaan Ali of Guyana have both shown interest in meeting.
“Venezuela expresses its satisfaction and accepts the call to meet with approval and commitment,” stated a December 9, 2023, statement released by Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry, adding that it affirms the “historical position on the unquestionable sovereign rights of Venezuela” encompassing the Essequibo area.
According to social media posts from Guyana’s administration, Ali had agreed to meet, but “reiterated that Guyana’s land boundary is not up for discussion, as it is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and, when adjudicated, will be fully respected by Guyana.”
“The President, on numerous occasions, has made it explicitly clear that the case before the ICJ will not be an issue for bilateral discussions,” the addition made by the Guyanese.
Before, UN head Antonio Guterres cautioned that the Essequibo standoff should be resolved “solely peacefully” and pushed both nations to cooperate with the International Court of Justice. On December 8, Rosemary Di Carlo, UN undersecretary for political affairs and peacebuilding, gave a briefing to the influential Security Council about the current state of things.
After decades of fruitless UN discussions between the two nations, the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) is now considering the territorial issue and is scheduled to have a trial in the spring. That decided last month that “Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute.” Nonetheless, Venezuela rejects the jurisdiction of the court over the matter.
According to Gonsalves’ letters to both presidents, he is “aware” of each nation’s stance and believes that given where they are at, it is “preferable for leaders of nations to speak to each other calmly, respectfully, and with the patience, to avoid an escalation into threats or the use of force.”
“Time is of the essence,” examines the letter. “Let us all resolve to make this historic gathering a successful one. So much is at stake for our Caribbean and Latin American civilization.”
