The president of Venezuela and his counterpart from Guyana hold talks to ease tensions over the Essequibo conflict

2023-12-14 21:51:35

MADRID, 14 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his Guyanese counterpart, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, have met in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to try to ease tensions due to the conflict over Essequibo, a Guyanese territory. which is claimed by Caracas as its own.

Maduro, accompanied by a large delegation made up of the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, and the Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, shook hands with Ali before starting the high-level meeting, according to the AVN news agency.

The bilateral meeting, promoted by the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), was attended by the envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Earle Courtenay Rattray.

Also present were the special envoy of the Brazilian president, Celso Amorin; the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, as well as his counterparts from Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica, Keith Rowley and Roosevelt Skerrit, who is also president of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The Venezuelan president has previously held another meeting with CARICOM leaders – which was also attended by the Colombian Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva – after his arrival at Argyle International Airport in Kingstown.

The bilateral meeting occurs after Ali assured during an interview with the American network NBC News that Maduro is “a criminal” who “acts recklessly” due to his recent actions and statements regarding Essequibo.

After the approval of a referendum in Venezuela on the annexation of Essequibo, the country’s authorities announced several measures such as the creation of the state of Guayana Esequiba or the publication of a new official map with this integrated territory, among others.

The territorial conflict dates back to the 19th century, when an 1899 ruling, defended from Georgetown, stipulated that Venezuela renounced Essequibo, although it later retracted this. For its part, Caracas relies on the 1966 Geneva Agreement signed between the United Kingdom (former colonial power of Guyana) and Venezuela, in which they recognized Essequibo as a disputed territory.