- Leaders of Venezuela- Guyana to begin tense talks in St Vincent
- Venezuela- Guyana Border Dispute Meeting held in St Vincent
- Expert: Essequibo talks buy time, but little more
- UN Diplomats, Regional leaders to attend Essequibo talks
On the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, high-level talks will take place today in an effort to defuse increasing tensions between Guyana and Venezuela.
The face-to-face meeting, which is likely to be contentious, will take place at Argyle International Airport, which is about 10 miles outside of Kingstown.
The delegation from Guyana comprises Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd, among other officials.
The travelling party of President Maduro comprises his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez and other high ranking officials.
President Ali has said that he would refrain from discussing the boundary dispute, since it is now within the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
On Maduro’s arrival, Gonsalves engaged in a conversation with him and allowed the Venezuelan President to have a brief news conference on the tarmac for a duration of over 4 minutes.
Upon Ali’s arrival, he was not shown the same courtesy but was offered a little over 10 seconds with the media as Gonsalves swiftly escorted him to the conference room.
Several CARICOM leaders, UN diplomats, a representative of President Lula, CELAC officials, and other high-ranking officials will be a party to the meeting.
It is unclear if the session would lead to any agreements or even ease the border controversy. Guyana’s president has repeatedly said the dispute needs to be resolved solely by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.
Venezuela maintains that the Essequibo region was a part of its territory during the Spanish colonial era and claims that the 1966 Geneva Agreement between their nation, Britain, and Guyana, a former colony of British Guiana, invalidated the border drew in 1899 by international arbitrators.
On December 1, 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.
St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph 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.
Dr. Anthony Gonzalez, retired head of the Institute of International Relations (IIR), UWI, St. Augustine, speaking to the Newsday publication, Trinidad, said the meeting he believes is about ‘buying time’.
“I think that meeting is more of a way of kind of postponing the decisions or trying to find a way of kicking the can down the road. I’m not sure it’s going to solve very much.”
The meeting commences at 10 a.m.
