International

Presidents of Venezuela and Guyana to address face-to-face Esequibo issue

Photo: EFE

December 11 |

Under the efforts of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and Guyana, Irfaan Alí, will meet next Thursday, December 14, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In a letter, signed by the president pro tempore of Celac and prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, the leaders were urged to “the urgent need to de-escalate the conflict and institute an appropriate dialogue, face to face, between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela”.

For this purpose, the aforementioned meeting, sponsored by Celac and Caricom, whose current president is the Commonwealth of Dominica, was scheduled to be held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

At the request of both dignitaries, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will also be present at this meeting.

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Regarding the position of the heads of state, the letter states that “Both have agreed with this assessment in the search for peaceful coexistence, the application and respect for international law and the avoidance of the use or threat of force”.

“Both are publicly on record of their commitment to the Caribbean as a zone of peace and the maintenance of international law.”

The letter also proposes that the presidents suggest the modality of the dialogue and interlocutor, stating that both Gonsalves and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, president of Caricom, are willing to provide constructive support for this meeting.

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, thanked Celac and Caricom for the efforts made to promote the dialogue between Venezuela and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the first fruit of which will be the high level meeting to be held between Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Irfaan Ali.

In a message disseminated through his account on the social network X, Foreign Minister Gil thanked the diplomatic good offices.

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“Venezuela appreciates the efforts on the part of Celac and Caricom to promote direct high-level dialogue with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana through the presidential meeting to be held next December 14.”

“The Government of President Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan people are fully certain that the territorial dispute will only be resolved through dialogue, mutual respect and the commitment to preserve the region as a zone of peace and free of interference,” Gil wrote on the social network.

The meeting on Thursday, December 14 was announced on Saturday by the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, through a letter addressed to Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Irfaan Ali.

Previously, President Nicolás Maduro activated to the maximum the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace to defend Venezuela’s historical rights in the dispute over the territory of Guayana Esequiba.

This was ratified through a message on the social network X addressed to the people of Venezuela: “Happy Saturday with the Venezuelan Family! I am activating to the maximum the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, always in defense of the historical rights of Venezuela. Once again we will defeat lies, provocations and threats against our people. Our Homeland will win!”.

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