KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC -Talks between Presidents Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro began here on Thursday as efforts continue to ease the tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the ownership of the Essequibo Region that Georgetown has administered for years and claimed by Caracas.
The talks over the Essequibo region, which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of the country’s 800,000 citizens, are being facilitated by the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Speaking to reporters at the Argyle International Airport, host Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said he remains optimistic about the outcome and that the meeting is at a venue commissioned in 2017 and built with support from Cuba and Venezuela.
“In this facility where we are holding this meeting, there is the input of Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, (and) we have here the CARICOM Development Fund. You see the choice of location in a symbolic sense,” he said, noting that his government had received “important start-up resources” from the Trinidad and Tobago government.
“So this is a place for us, a place of fresh hope, oneness, a time of despair,” Gonsalves said, reiterating that he is “a facilitator and an interlocutor” and not a moderator for the talks that are also being attended by several leaders of CARICOM, including its chairman, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
“So I am, in a sense, the focal point bringing it together here, but this has taken several weeks to get going, and I commend the courage of both President Ali and Maduro, their perspicacity, their foresight, and I am relying on their maturity, and wisdom and their patience and a calm.”
“This is not, metaphorically, in cricketing terms a T20 international; it is not a one-day international. It is part of a test series, home and away games, except to say both home and away games look destined to be played in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with an umpire both sides trust and respect,” he added.
Last Sunday, Venezuela staged a referendum in which it said 95 percent of the votes cast supported the annexation of the Essequibo region. President Maduro soon announced that foreign companies working in Essequibo would have to withdraw within three months.
He said he was also proposing a special law to prohibit all companies that work under Guyana concessions from any transaction and that Caracas would create a military unit for the disputed territory but that it would be based in a neighboring Venezuelan state.
Before the referendum, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Venezuela must not take any action to seize Essequibo, which Guyana has administered for over a century.
In its ruling, the Court said, “Both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more challenging to resolve.
“The court emphasizes that the question of the validity of the 1899 Award and the related question of the definitive settlement of the land boundary dispute between Guyana and Venezuela are matters for the court to decide at the merits stage,” it added.
On arrival, Maduro gave brief comments to the press but spoke in Spanish.
“I am pleased that the community of Latin American and Caribbean states and Caricom have managed to take this step, and we will make the most of it so that our Latin America and the Caribbean remains a zone of peace,” Maduro said.
President Ali, who is scheduled to hold a news conference after the talks, said that “facts” will dictate the meeting.
“I’m taking the facts with me, and the facts remain that the 1899 Award clearly defines the border between Guyana and Venezuela,” Ali said on his arrival here.
Gonsalves said both Ali and Maduro are “ wise and mature men,” he expects patience and calm during the discussions.
“We have to de-escalate, and in the de-escalation, we may find possible solutions, certainly in this particular case, to address matters consequential to the border controversy.
“We have two leaders who are mature and wise… and I expect them to apply their maturity and wisdom and patience and calm,” Gonsalves said.
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