Presidents Dr. Irfaan Ali of Guyana and Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela exchanged gifts at the VIII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
“Peace and love,” media reports quoted Maduro saying during the exchange.
The two men also shook hands while Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, whose country hosted the Summit, led applause.
Ali gave Maduro a bottle of rum and a medal while Maduro presented a box of Venezuelan products in return.
The gift exchange occurred amid an unresolved controversy over Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s resource-rich Essequibo region. The region comprises over two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
Guyana and Venezuela committed to peaceful coexistence in an eleven-point declaration from a high-level summit in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in December last year.
Both countries agreed that they would not, directly or indirectly, threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States.
In addition, they committed to resolving any controversies via international law. The border controversy is before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
