Guyana, Venezuela leaders to meet as region worries over territorial dispute

Venezuela’s new map that includes the Essequibo territory as its own is displayed at the Foreign Ministry in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. Leaders of Guyana and Venezuela are preparing to meet this week to address an escalating dispute over the Essequibo region that is rich in oil and minerals. AP

CARACAS, Venezuela — The leaders of Guyana and Venezuela have expressed their intentions to cooperate as they prepare to meet this week to address an escalating dispute over a region rich in oil and minerals. But their diametrically different positions over the role the International Court of Justice should have in the disagreement appeared impossible to reconcile on Monday.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other officials insist the world court cannot settle the century-old dispute. Guyana President Irfaan Ali said Sunday the tribunal is the appropriate venue to solve the matter.

Guyana presented the case to the court in 2018, but Venezuela insists that was a violation of a 1960s agreement between the neighboring South American countries.

In a letter Monday to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which will host the high-level meeting on Thursday, Maduro said that imposing the International Court of Justice as an authority in seeking a solution to the dispute was a violation “of the principle of mutual consent already agreed upon between the parties.”

This threatens to cause a “deterioration of the situation,” Maduro wrote.

The dispute over Essequibo, which represents two-thirds of Guyana and borders Venezuela, worsened after Venezuela’s Dec. 3 referendum on claiming sovereignty over the region located near massive oil deposits.

Venezuela maintains Essequibo was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period, and rejects the border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was under British rule. Venezuelan officials also argue that a 1966 agreement between their country, Britain and the colony of British Guiana effectively nullified the original arbitration.

Ali said he would travel in good faith to St. Vincent, an island in the eastern Caribbean. Guyana will not negotiate with Venezuela, he added, insisting the case be heard by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands as planned.

“The world is behind us,” he said.

In contrast, Venezuela on Friday unveiled what officials described as a new official map, which shows the Essequibo as part of their country.

Other leaders, including Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva, have also been invited to Thursday’s talks.

Asked if Washington has committed any military aid, Ali said Sunday he signed a defense agreement with the United States to ensure that “major training programs and exercises” will continue.

“We don’t want any conflict,” he said. We don’t want any war.”

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced the creation of a commission that would carry out “broadest consultations” on Venezuela’s proposal for Thursday’s meeting. The commission includes the attorney general, head of the National Assembly and defense minister.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told reporters on Monday that “any decision must be mutual.” In a video posted a day earlier on social media, he said he met with his counterpart in Guyana as well as with the presidents of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, better known for its acronym in Spanish, CELAC, and Caricom, a Caribbean trade bloc.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Gonsalves said in a statement over the weekend the two organizations believe there is an “urgent need to de-escalate the conflict” and introduce dialogue. He noted that Ali agreed to discuss the controversy with Maduro, despite Guyana’s Parliament unanimously instructing him not to do it.

“Let us all resolve to make this historic gathering a successful one,” Gonsalves said. “So much is at stake for our Caribbean and Latin American civilization.”