Guyana's President Irfaan Ali will hold a meeting with Nicolás Maduro next Thursday. Guyana Presidency via Portal June 12, 2023
The President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, denied this Tuesday (12) that the meeting next Thursday (14) with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro will be about the centuriesold territorial dispute between the two countries, stressing that this is a The case must be resolved before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“We have already made it clear that the ICJ will decide the border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. We remain firm on this issue and are not up for discussion,” Ali said on social media as he posted a letter he sent to Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who hosted the meeting of the Heads of State.
Citing a Dec. 8 statement from heads of state of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the letter emphasizes that the meeting aims to “deescalate the conflict through appropriate dialogue” and “avoid the use or threat of force.” ” .
“I have a mandate from the National Assembly of Guyana, which has unanimously decided that the boundary dispute is not a matter of bilateral discussion and that the matter should appropriately be referred to the International Court of Justice,” Ali states in the document.
Venezuela does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in this case.
This is Ali's second letter to Gonsalves, this time in response to a communication from Maduro this Monday (11) in which he celebrated the meeting to “address the territorial controversy directly”. Guyana's ruler described this and other points in his Venezuelan counterpart's document as “inaccuracies.”
The meeting, sponsored by Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) and Caricom, comes amid tensions over Essequibo, a 160,000 km² territory rich in oil and natural resources administered by Georgetown but claimed by Caracas, in a dispute , which was exacerbated by the discovery of oil deposits in waters disputed by ExxonMobil.
Maduro endorsed a consultative referendum on December 3 that approved the creation of a Venezuelan province in the region and the granting of citizenship to its residents. There he took the case to the UN Security Council (United Nations) and intensified contacts with the USA.
The President of Guyana also classified the Maduro government's rejection of Guyana's oil concessions in a “stilltobedefined maritime zone” as a “misleading statement”.
“All the oil blocks are in Guyana’s waters,” he said.
Maduro questioned US “involvement”. “Any allegation that there is a military operation directed against Venezuela in any part of the territory of Guyana is false, misleading and provocative,” Ali responded.
In addition to Guyana, look at other South American countries with which Venezuela has already had friction
The Venezuelan government was in the headlines last week after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposed a referendum the annexation of the territory of Essequibo, which represents 75% of Guyana and is rich in minerals such as gold, copper, diamonds and oil. In South America, there has been no war in the region since the 1980s, when Argentina attempted to retake the Falkland Islands from the United Kingdom, meaning the continent is considered a place of peace among neighboring countries. Nevertheless, the Venezuelan government, while admittedly authoritarian and repressive, has had other situations with some surrounding nations
Venezuela and Colombia have been experiencing moments of rupture and strengthening of diplomatic and political relations since at least the late 1990s. The most recent break in relations occurred in 2019, when thenColombian President Iván Duque demonstrated his support for Juan Guaidó, selfdeclared president of Venezuela's interim government and part of the opposition to the current government. In response, Maduro ordered the suspension of political and diplomatic relations between the countries. Relations between the two parties resumed at the end of August 2022
Another country with which Venezuela has broken off diplomatic relations in the past and later resumed them was Argentina. The connection between the nations was severed in 2017 during the administration of Mauricio Macri. At that time, thenPresident Argentina joined the Lima Group a group of foreign ministers from countries in the Americas that recognized a crisis in Venezuela and sought a solution to it. The connection between Venezuela and Argentina was restored in 2022 when President Alberto Fernandéz declared in April of that year that he intended to resume diplomatic relations with Caracas
Venezuela has also severed diplomatic relations with the country Paraguay for four years between 2019 and 2023. In a statement released on November 15, the countries said they agreed to restore their diplomatic and consular relations. The bond between the parties was broken in January 2019 when Paraguay rejected the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro. The then President Abdo Benítez not only considered the results of the polls an “illegitimate” process, but also supported and recognized his opponent Juan Guaidó
Venezuela currently has no diplomatic conflict with Brazil since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) took office in January this year. Still, relations between the countries have become more tense since Maduro's territorial annexation proposal. In order to invade the Essequibo region by land, the Venezuelan military would have to pass through the Brazilian state of Roraima in the north of the country. To take precautionary measures, the Ministry of Defense sent 20 armored war tanks to the region on Monday (5).
In the past, Maduro has also clashed with former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom he labeled a “fascist” and “modernday Hitler.” In May this year, Bolsonaro criticized Maduro's arrival in Brazil and deplored what he described as a “rapprochement.” [do Brasil] with dictatorships.” At the time Bolsonaro was president, Brazil was among the Latin American countries that did not recognize Maduro’s new term (20192025). He was reelected on May 20, 2018, in a vote boycotted by the majority of opposition parties and not recognized by the United States and the European Union