GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The United Kingdom Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, David Rutley. On Monday, I held talks with President Dr. Irfaan Ali.
His visit comes a few days after the British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, said Rutley would be visiting Guyana as part of the efforts by London to ensure that Guyana maintains its sovereignty over the disputed mineral-rich Essequibo region that Venezuela is also claiming.
The Essequibo region makes up about two-thirds of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of the country’s 800,000 citizens.
A government statement issued following the talks said the “discussions focused on the continuation and expansion of the relationship between the UK and Guyana, especially in sustainable and economic development and security.”
It did not elaborate, also stating that the meeting was attended by the FCDO’s Americas Director, Robert Tinline, and the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller. as well as Prime Minister retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd.
Last week, Cameron, In a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that the statement by Venezuela in St Vincent following the border talks between Caracas and Georgetown “it will refrain from the use of force and any further escalation is welcome.”
Cameron, a former British prime minister, said that “concrete actions must follow it” and that London “supports efforts by the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, to promote peace in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Sovereign borders must be respected,” he said,
The Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela, issued following talks in Kingstown between President Dr. Irfaan Ali and President Nicolas Maduro, also indicated that the two countries agreed that “any controversies” between them would be resolved by international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966.”
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