Venezuela and Guyana agree to renounce violence in border dispute
Published: Friday, Dec 15th 2023, 10:20
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Venezuela and Guyana do not want to use force under any circumstances in the dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region. This was agreed by the presidents of both countries at a crisis meeting in Kingstown on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Thursday (local time).
Any controversy over the territory claimed by Venezuela in Guyana should be resolved in accordance with international law, including a 1966 agreement with the United Kingdom on the then colony of British Guiana, the joint statement said. There is a commitment to good neighborliness in peaceful coexistence and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro spoke of a "meeting with frankness, truth and respect" with his counterpart Irfaan Ali. "We have taken a great historic step to return to the path of legality, dialog and peace. This is our path," he wrote about the meeting in Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Representatives of other Caribbean countries and Brazil as well as UN observers accompanied the talks. St. Vincent and the Grenadines currently holds the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).
Venezuela would like to have the region as its own federal state
The Essequibo region, which makes up around two thirds of Guyana and borders on eastern Venezuela, is a point of contention between the neighbors in the north of South America. For a long time, it was one of the poorest countries on the continent. The discovery of huge oil reserves off the coast in 2015 brought Guyana economic growth - it is now the largest in the world. At the beginning of December, Maduro held a controversial referendum in Venezuela in which, according to official figures, 96% of participants voted in favor of the annexation of "Guayana Esequiba" as a Venezuelan federal state.
Venezuela, which is itself rich in oil but still economically hard-pressed, has long laid claim to Essequibo as a result of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, in which a negotiated solution was sought. However, Guyana became independent a few months later. The current borders were determined in an arbitration award by a tribunal in 1899, which was initiated by the USA and Great Britain.
The International Court of Justice of the United Nations is dealing with the border dispute at Guyana's request. President Ali emphasized again on Thursday that the dispute belonged before the ICJ. "We have made it very clear that Guyana is not the aggressor," he said. "Guyana is not seeking war." Venezuela reiterated in Thursday's statement that it continues to reject ICJ jurisdiction.
Both countries agreed to set up a joint commission of their foreign ministries and technical advisors to discuss the matter further and to meet again in Brazil within three months.
©Keystone/SDA
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