1 of 2 The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, speaks during a public event in front of a map of the country that includes the Essequibo region, December 8, 2023. — Photo: Disclosure/ Presidency of Venezuela The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, speaks during an event audience in front of a map of the country that includes the Essequibo region, December 8, 2023. Photo: Disclosure/Venezuela Presidency
After a referendum, a threat of invasion and the threat of armed conflict on the border with Brazil, the presidents of Venezuela and Guyana will hold the first direct dialogue in the dispute over the territory this Thursday (14th) at 12:00 p.m. (Brasília time). from Essequibo.
The region, larger than England and the state of Ceará, is part of Guyana but is claimed by Venezuela, which agreed to annex the area in a referendum in early December. Since then, movements from Venezuela and Guyana have exacerbated the mood.
Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and Irfaan Ali of Guyana will face each other in a meeting brokered by Brazil, which sent the presidency's adviser on international affairs, Celso Amorim, to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean country current strata president of the Community of Latin Americans States (Celac).
Celso Amorim and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves will only act as observers, meaning they cannot interfere in the decisions.
The meeting was seen as a first step toward calming the crisis, which escalated within days after Venezuela approved the annexation of Essequibo in a referendum involving half the population.
Although an invasion was considered unlikely by experts, Maduro raised the tone in the days following the public consultation: he released a new official map of the country covering the Essequibo region and signed decrees before a crowd in Caracas banning the invasion was officially introduced State of Essequibo.
The United States, which had already established a military partnership with Guyana last year focusing on the Essequibo crisis, announced military overflights in the region, which Maduro described as a provocation. The US is also considering establishing a military base in Essequibo.
Fantastic visit to Essequibo, a region of Guyana sought after by Venezuela
The possibility of dialogue between the parties only emerged days later, when Maduro spoke about the need for dialogue with Guyana following a telephone conversation with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Then on Saturday (9) the President of Guyana and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines announced the meeting and said that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was also invited to the meeting to attend as an observer however Brasília decided for that send Celso Amorim.
A letter sent this week to the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said: The Venezuelan head of state defended dialogue to resolve the crisis Venezuela claims the territory of Essequibo, an area larger than England and the state of Ceará, currently part of Guyana. Last week his government held a referendum on annexing the region.
However, mature The document also reaffirmed Venezuela’s “legitimate” right to Essequibo and said that I will want to discuss United States “interference” at the meeting in a fight.
“Our position has always been the path of dialogue with Guyana to achieve a practical solution to the conflict (…). I hope that (the meeting) will become a starting point for the return to direct negotiations between the two countries,” he told Maduro, in the letter that he himself published on his social networks.
Venezuela claims to be the true owner of Essequibo, a 160 square kilometer area corresponds to approximately 70% of all of Guyana and traverses six of the country's ten states. The referendum has reignited decades of dispute and fears of an armed conflict on the border with Brazil.
2 of 2 Venezuela approves the annexation of Guyana Photo: Reproduction Venezuela approves the annexation of Guyana Photo: Reproduction
The Essequibo territory has been disputed by Venezuela and Guyana for more than a century. It has been under Guyanese control since the late 19th century. The region makes up 70% of Guyana's current territory and is home to 125,000 people.
In Venezuela the area is called Guayana Essequiba. It is a place with dense forest and in 2015, oil was discovered in the region. It is estimated that Guyana has reserves of 11 billion barrels, most of which are offshore, near Essequibo. Due to oil, Guyana is the fastest growing South American country in recent years.
Guyana claims ownership of the territory because there is a report prepared in Paris in 1899 that established the current boundaries. At the time, Guyana was a territory of the United Kingdom.
Both Guyana and Venezuela claim rights to the territory based on international documents.
Venezuela claims the territory belongs to it because this is stipulated in an agreement signed with the United Kingdom itself in 1966, before Guyana's independence, which annulled the arbitration award and laid the basis for a negotiated settlement.
Guyana asked the UN and the International Court of Justice for help
Better understand the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana
The International Court of Justice ruled on December 1 that Venezuela could not attempt to annex Essequibo and that this was valid for the referendum.
Guyana had asked the court to take emergency measures to stop voting in Venezuela.
In April, the International Court of Justice declared that it had the legitimacy to rule on the dispute. This body is the highest court of the United Nations (UN) to settle disputes between states, but is unable to enforce its decisions.
The final decision on who owns Essequibo could still be years away.
The Venezuelan government declared that the decision constituted interference in an internal matter and violated the constitution and held the referendum. According to Caracas, 96% of voters chose the annexation of Essequibo about half of Venezuelan voters took part in the public consultation.
Due to the escalation of the dispute in recent days, the Security Council held an extraordinary meeting on Friday (8) to discuss the issue. Ecuador has proposed a Council declaration text on this issue, which is now being drafted.