Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations. Photo: Archive.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, today welcomed the meeting that the Presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, will hold this Thursday on the subject of Guyana Esequiba.
In a statement issued by his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief explained that two observers from this organization will take part in the meeting. He specified that they were Guterres' chief of staff, Courtney Ratray, and deputy secretary general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenca.
The meeting will take place in the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kingston, under the auspices of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). Both UN officials will travel to that city within a few hours.
Guterres highlighted the efforts made by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva, and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and President pro tempore of Celac, Ralph Gonsalves, to make this meeting possible.
He expressed hope that the meeting between the presidents of Venezuela and Guyana would help de-escalate tensions. He added that he does not take sides in the border dispute between the two nations.
Last Monday, the Venezuelan President said he hoped the meeting would help Guyana return to negotiations on Guyana Essequiba, a territory deprived of Venezuela through deception and an accomplice maneuver between the United States and the United Kingdom, which led to the Paris Arbitration led award (1899).
The Geneva Convention (1966) states that this border controversy must be resolved through diplomatic and political means, but Guyana ceded oil and gas fields in disputed maritime areas to several energy companies, including the American Exxon Mobil.
On December 3, the consultative referendum on Guiana Esequiba took place in Venezuela, in which more than ten million citizens took part. Among other topics on this topic that they spoke on, 98.27 percent of them supported the Geneva Convention as the only valid legal instrument to achieve a peaceful and satisfactory solution for both nations. Meanwhile, 98 percent of voters rejected the dividing line fraudulently imposed by the arbitration award to deprive Venezuela of the Essequibo.
(Taken from Telesur)