South America is in a position to “deflate” tensions between Venezuela and Guyana in order to avoid a confrontation after a Venezuelan plebiscite over the weekend approved the annexation of much of the territory of neighboring Guyana, he told Reuters on Monday. the secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean of Itamaraty, ambassador Gisela Padovan.
According to her, the Brazilian government is following the situation between the two neighbors with concern, but does not believe that the situation will progress to an armed confrontation, as several negotiations are being carried out by leaders in the region — including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — with the presidents of Venezuela and Guyana.
“We are following the situation with concern, but I don’t believe we will come to this (armed conflict). I think we have the capacity in the region to deflate this process,” the ambassador told Reuters when asked whether the climate between the two countries could culminate in a military confrontation.
“We defend a peaceful solution to this issue, and what we don’t want is what President Lula called confusion, and I call conflict. I think a conflict would be completely undesirable at a time when we are resuming the integration of South America, resuming a meeting of the 12 countries on various topics, including defense”, he added.
The ambassador also recalled that the Essequibo region is dominated by dense forest that is difficult to access, which would make any military action difficult. The main land connection between Venezuela and Guyana is a road that crosses Brazilian territory in the Pacaraima region (RR).
“The terrain conditions are not easy, just look at the map. It’s not about arriving (and entering), the only road that connects (Venezuela and Guyana) passes through Brazil, which is Pacaraima”, said Padovan in an interview after participating in a Mercosur Social event.
A source linked to the Army Command said that, on the Brazilian side, movement at the border has been normal. The source highlighted that permanent surveillance in the region has been reinforced to prevent Brazil from being surprised by any type of military action trying to use part of Brazilian territory.
“No action by either side will be able to take advantage of our territory”, he highlighted.
The Army Social Communication Center confirmed an increase in personnel in the border platoon from 70 to 130 soldiers. According to the agency, troop movements are part of the advanced training of the 1st Jungle Infantry Brigade, aiming to maintain the readiness and operational efficiency of the Land Force.
“The Brigade in Roraima continues to carry out its presence in that border area normally. The addition of 60 military personnel in the Pacaraima region aims to serve, in better conditions, the mission of surveillance and protection of the national territory,” said the statement.
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In a referendum held on Sunday, Venezuelan voters rejected the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the country’s territorial dispute with Guyana and supported the creation of a new Venezuelan state in the potentially oil-rich Essequibo region.
The court on Friday prohibited Venezuela from taking any measures that would alter the status quo in the area, which is the subject of active proceedings before the ICJ, but President Nicolás Maduro’s government proceeded with a five-question “consultative” referendum.
Last month, former foreign minister and current presidential advisor Celso Amorim went to Caracas, at Lula’s request, after a Brazilian assessment that the Venezuelan campaign on the annexation of Essequibo had escalated too much, a source who told Reuters follows the conversations.
The Brazilian government did not ask for the Venezuelan referendum to be cancelled, but asked Maduro to tone down the campaign and seek a peaceful solution. Lula also received a phone number from the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali.
Last week, the Brazilian Ministry of Defense said it had intensified actions along the country’s northern border as it monitors a territorial dispute between the neighbors.
“I understand that there was the activation of an already existing battalion, or regiment, and it is natural that at times of inflammatory statements you worry”, said the ambassador about the military reinforcement in the area.
The approval of the annexation in the Venezuelan referendum was not a surprise, highlighted the ambassador. “This is a cause that unites government and opposition, perhaps the only one,” she said. “The referendum is an internal initiative and any country can organize it, but what the International Court of Justice prohibits is changing the de facto situation, and that did not happen,” she said.
The disputed area is rich in mineral resources and represents 159,000 of Guyana’s 215,000 square kilometers. The territory has been in dispute since the 19th century, when the British, then colonizers of Guyana, occupied an area beyond the Essequibo River, where gold had been discovered.
A first arbitration, in which the United States supported Venezuela’s claim, was held in 1897, in Paris, and an agreement between the Americans and the British gave the territory to Guyana. In 1962, still dissatisfied with the result, Venezuela reported the case to the United Nations (UN). In 1966, a treaty signed in Geneva recognized Venezuela’s claim.
Over the last 57 years, several mediations have been attempted, without success, until the UN defined the International Court of Justice as the forum for a solution, which Venezuela disagrees with.
By Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Ricardo Brito and Lisandra Paraguassu, in Brasília Editing by Pedro Fonseca