Guyana and Venezuela leaders meet face-to-face as area pushes to defuse territorial dispute

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — The leaders of Guyana and Venezuela landed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for a tense assembly Thursday as regional nations sought to defuse a long-standing territorial dispute that has escalated with Venezuelans voting in a referendum to assert two-thirds of their smaller neighbor.

Pushed by regional companions, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro agreed to fulfill on the Argyle International Airport on the jap Caribbean island of St. Vincent. The prime ministers of Barbados, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago stated additionally they would attend.

Ali arrived first, with Maduro arriving shortly afterward. The Venezuelan president spoke to reporters briefly earlier than the assembly.

“I am pleased that the community of Latin American and Caribbean states and Caricom have managed to take this step, and we will make the most of it so that our Latin America and the Caribbean remains a zone of peace,” Maduro stated. Caricom is an acronym for the Caribbean Community group.

Ahead of the assembly, Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, stated he anticipated extra conferences to be held.

“To use a cricket metaphor, this is not a one-day cricket match,” he stated. “It is like a test match, and there will be other rounds and games, but the fact that they will be talking is very important on friendly, neutral grounds like St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

The assembly is aimed toward easing the tensions which have flared over Essequibo, an enormous border area wealthy in oil and minerals that represents a lot of Guyana‘s territory but that Venezuela claims as its own.

Venezuela’s president adopted the referendum by ordering his state-owned corporations to discover and exploit the oil, fuel and mines in Essequibo. And either side have put their militaries on alert.

It was unclear if the session would result in any agreements and even ease the border controversy.

Guyana’s president has repeatedly stated the dispute must be resolved solely by the International Court of Justice within the Netherlands.

“We are firm on this matter and it will not be open for discussion,” Ali wrote Tuesday on X, previously often called Twitter.

Venezuela insists the Essequibo area was a part of its territory throughout the Spanish colonial interval, and argues the 1966 Geneva Agreement between their nation, Britain and Guyana, the previous colony of British Guiana, nullified the border drawn in 1899 by worldwide arbitrators.

In a letter despatched Tuesday to Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana’s president stated the Geneva Agreement states that the International Court of Justice ought to settle any border controversy.

Ali additionally stated he was involved about what he described as “inaccurate assertions” made by Maduro’s personal letter to Gonsalves.

He rebutted Maduro’s description of oil concessions granted by Guyana as being “in a maritime area yet to be delimited.” Ali stated all oil blocks “are located well within Guyanese waters under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

Ali additionally rejected what he stated Maduro described as “meddling of the United States Southern Command, which has begun operations in the disputed territory.”

The U.S. Southern Command carried out flight operations inside Guyana in current days.

“Any allegation that a military operation aimed at Venezuela exists in any part of Guyanese territory is false, misleading and provocative,” Ali stated in his letter to Gonsalves.

Maduro’s letter to Gonsalves repeats Venezuela‘s contention that the border drawn in 1899 was “the result of a scheme” between the U.S. and the U.K. It also said the dispute “must be amicably resolved in a matter acceptable to both parties.”

Maduro also referred to the Dec. 3 referendum on Venezuela claiming ownership of Essequibo, which has vast oil deposits off its coast.

The meeting between the two leaders was scheduled to last one day, although many expect the disagreement to drag on into next year.

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