- ALI -MADURO TO MEET ADMIST BORDER DISPUTE
Guyana’s president, Irfaan Ali, and Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, will meet at St. Vincent’s Argyle International Airport on Thursday, December 14, in an effort to deescalate rising tensions between the two South American nations.
On December 3, the Venezuelan referendum gave its authorities a mandate to exert governance over the Essequibo region, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana. President Ali said the matter of his nation’s border is currently before the ICJ and will not be discussed at Thursday’s meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Vice President of the Venezuela’s United Socialist Party (USPV), Diosdado Cabello, called on the militants of the party to work on selecting heads of the municipal and regional councils in what they are calling “Guyana Essequibo.” This, he noted during a videoconference, was cited on X.
“Let’s not let 2024 take us by surprise; let’s work on this issue. If anyone already has their candidates, present the proposal to comrade Carmen Meléndez,” he said.
The rhetoric is also rising in Georgetown, with President Ali calling Maduro an “outlaw” who is “acting recklessly” in trying to wrest oil-rich land from Guyana.
In an interview Wednesday with NBC News Now anchor Tom Llamas, Ali reacted to recent comments by Maduro that Venezuela “immediately will proceed to give operating licences for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas, and mines in our Guyana Essequibo.”
“President Maduro is reckless in that statement. It shows he is an outlaw,” Ali said.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations issued a directive to Venezuela prohibiting any modifications to the current situation in Guyana’s Essequibo region.
Several CARICOM leaders, UN diplomats, a representative of President Lula, CELAC officials and other high ranking officials will be present at the meeting on Thursday.
The Prime Minister of St Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, recently offered a resounding substantiation of the importance of dialogue ahead of planned talks between Guyana and Venezuela. “It is better for people in conflict to be talking.”.
This perspective is especially relevant against the backdrop of the longstanding territorial controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, which has amplified in recent months.
“The fact of the matter is this: our region [of Latin America and the Caribbean] has been and is a zone of peace, and we’d like to keep it like this,” Gonsalves reasoned.
Gonsalves has cautioned against the allure of quick fixes in a world accustomed to instant solutions. He noted that real-life conflicts require more than immediate resolutions, calling for patience and perseverance. “Life, living, and production don’t go like that,” he said, while encouraging a measured, thoughtful approach to conflict resolution.
The meeting is expected to commence at 10 a.m.
