1 of 2 Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, and Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela Photo: Federico Parra, Keno George/ AFP Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, and Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela Photo: Federico Parra, Keno George/ AFP
The agreement reached this Thursday (14) between Venezuela and Guyana in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines prohibits threats and the use of force in the conflict over Essequibo. In addition, representatives from both countries agreed to meet in Brazil in the coming months.
The conflict began after Venezuela announced in a referendum that it would incorporate an area of Guyana called Essequibo into its own territory.
The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, said that the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, and that of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, had agreed to prevent an escalation of the conflict.
The two heads of state and government also committed to dialogue to resolve outstanding issues related to the territorial dispute.
A final threepage statement on the meeting was released on Thursday evening. Points agreed by Venezuela and Guyana include:
The possibility of dialogue between the parties only arose when Maduro spoke about the need for dialogue with Guyana following a telephone conversation with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
On Saturday (9) the President of Guyana and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines announced the meeting and said that President Lula was also invited to the meeting to attend as an observer but Brasília chose to accept Celso Amorim send.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines this week, the Venezuelan leader defended dialogue to resolve the crisis Venezuela claims the territory of Essequibo, an area larger than England and the state of Ceará, which is currently Guyana belongs. Last week his government held a referendum on annexing the region.
The Essequibo territory has been disputed by Venezuela and Guyana for more than a century. Since the 19th century, the region was under the control of the United Kingdom, which gained control of Guyana through an agreement with the Netherlands. The area 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.
Both Guyana and Venezuela claim rights to the territory based on international documents:
- A Guyana claims to be the owner of the territory, as there is a report drawn up in Paris in 1899 that established the current boundaries. At the time, Guyana was a territory of the United Kingdom.
- Already those Venezuela declares that 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 annuls the arbitration award and creates the basis for a negotiated solution.
2 of 2 Venezuela approves the annexation of Guyana Photo: Reproduction Venezuela approves the annexation of Guyana Photo: Reproduction