2023-12-09 21:49:22
The Venezuelan government proposed a “high-level” meeting with Guyana this Saturday (9), in a scenario of tensions linked to the territorial dispute between the two countries over the oil-rich Essequibo region. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to take “unilateral measures” that could worsen the border dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana, during a phone call earlier on Saturday.
Published on: 09/12/2023 – 20:49
3 min
President Nicolas Maduro had “telephone conversations with President (of Brazil) Luiz Inácio da Silva and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”, during which he made a “proposal for a high-level meeting with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the date of which will be announced in the coming days”, informed the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without specifying whether Georgetown had approved the approach.
“Lula emphasized the importance of avoiding unilateral measures that could worsen the situation” in the disputed oil-rich Essequibo region, the Brazilian presidency said in a statement.
The president of Brazil, which borders both countries, reiterated the “growing concern” of other South American countries, which in a joint statement on Thursday night invited “both parties to dialogue and search for a solution peaceful.”
“If there’s one thing we don’t want, it’s a war in South America,” said President Lula.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, left, and the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after a press conference at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasília, May 29, 2023. AP – Gustavo Moreno
The ancient conflict over the Essequibo
The discovery of vast oil deposits has reignited the old conflict over the Essequibo, a 160,000 km² territory administered by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela, which claims that the true border is the one that dates back to the Spanish Empire in 1777.
The dispute was referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, which is not recognized by Venezuela. Guyana believes the borders were agreed in 1899, when the United Kingdom was the territory’s colonial power.
The two countries continue to exchange bitter statements, and the UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday night (8), but no comments were made.
Russia, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who supported his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin from the early hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, called for “peaceful solutions acceptable to all.”
Washington, an ally of Georgetown, asserted its “unwavering support for Guyana’s sovereignty.”
Venezuela’s Defense Minister described the military aerial exercises announced by the United States in Guyana as a “provocation”.
However, some analysts believe that the Venezuelan government’s nationalist rhetoric about Essequibo and the referendum held on Sunday, in which 95% of votes were in favor of joining Venezuela, according to disputed official figures, are an attempt by Maduro to manipulating the political situation less than a year before the 2024 presidential election, in which he is seeking a third term.
Around 125,000 people, a fifth of Guyana’s population, live in Essequibo, which covers two-thirds of the country’s surface.
(With information from AFP)
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