Congratulating Guyana and Venezuela on their successful meeting in Argyle, St. Vincent, Jamaica’s former prime minister and senior statesman PJ Patterson called the result “a welcome indication of relief” for the region.
One of the most well-known voices in the area, Patterson, stated that the summit set several important precedents that should be applauded and that point the way forward.
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“It was a Caribbean initiative which demonstrated the intrinsic value of collective regional action. Caricom stepped forward in united efforts to face the challenge of preserving the territorial integrity of Guyana, a founding member State, and headquarters of the Caribbean Community,” he noted.
Patterson stated that the meeting “demonstrated that in a world of unprecedented turbulence, diplomatic skills, and negotiating expertise can still be deployed to avert military conflict”.
Additionally, he mentioned that the meeting “asserts that the Caribbean and Latin America, despite the colonial rivalry and exploitation by European powers, constitute one hemispheric family”.
He contended that this emphasizes the benefits of our active participation in and current leadership of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Both sides promised not to use force to resolve the boundary issue between Venezuela and Guyana after the two-hour conference called by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Gonsalves read a joint statement that the two parties had released following the summit, in which they pledged to settle the disagreement “by international law.” However, the statement also mentioned that although Guyana thinks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has the right jurisdiction to hear the case, Venezuela has refused to recognize the court’s authority over the matter.
The conference was held in response to months of growing tension that had stoked concerns about a possible military confrontation in the area over the oil-rich Essequibo region, a remote territory spanning 160,000 square kilometers (62,000 square miles) and comprising two-thirds of Guyana.
Following ExxonMobil’s 2015 discovery of oil in Essequibo, Guyana, which has ruled the region for more than a century, began awarding licenses for oil firms to operate there. This led Venezuela, which has traditionally maintained possession of the Essequibo, to escalate its rhetoric.
With an 800,000-person population, Guyana now boasts the largest oil reserves in the world per capita because of this finding.
According to government officials, 95% of voters in the contentious referendum staged on December 3 by the Maduro administration endorsed the declaration that Venezuela is the legitimate owner of Essequibo.
Voters were also asked to decide whether to overturn an arbitration tribunal’s 1899 ruling that established the boundary with Guyana, which Caracas maintains was “fraudulently imposed.”
The question of whether Venezuela should refuse the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) jurisdiction to settle the conflict and the issue of Venezuelan citizenship for residents of the Essequibo area were both up for vote.
Although the “far-reaching agreements” reached at the St. Vincent summit do not represent a definitive resolution, Patterson, a former chairman of Caricom, stated that they do offer means of promoting positive, fruitful, and harmonious ties amongst neighbors.
Additionally, he said the summit “constitutes a model for devising consultative approaches to address other long-standing border disputes in south and central America”.
He claimed that presidents Ali and Maduro are worthy of such great praise, “for their preparedness and courage in accepting the terms of the Argyle Declaration”.
Patterson said that Prime Minister Gonsalves, the current head of CELAC, has shown his shrewd abilities and wealth of experience, receiving strong backing from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, “through his trusted emissar, Celso Amorim, who were the principal interlocutors”.
“Commendations are due to all the Caribbean prime ministers who were in attendance, to representatives of the UN secretary general, Caricom, and the CELAC Troika, to endorse the declaration and pledge to facilitate its timely implementation,” Patterson stated while pleading with Caribbean residents to “applaud and encourage this bold step to fashion the Caribbean where peace and harmony prevail”.
