Leaders of Guyana and Venezuela to meet in SVG

Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Irfaan Ali of Guyana have agreed to meet here on December 14, 2023 to discuss the border controversy between those two countries.
The meeting is being held as tensions between both countries have been mounting within recent weeks as a result of a long standing border dispute over an area in Guyana known as Esequibo where huge discoveries of oil and gas have been made.
A letter dated December 9, 2023 from the Office of the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves stated that the leaderships o the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have considered it necessary and desirable to facilitate the convening of a meeting between both leaders on matters consequential to the border controversy between those two nations.
According to the letter, both leaders had agreed with Gonsalves for such a meeting to be held under the auspices of CELAC, of which St Vincent and the Grenadines is the Pro-Tempore President and CARICOM of which the current Chairman is Dominican Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerritt.
“Both of you have also requested the distinguished presence of the esteemed President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, H.E Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, of which an invitation had been sent.
“Given the recent events and circumstances attendant upon the border controversy, the leaderships of CELAC and CARICOM have assessed, in the interest of all concerned, including our Caribbean and Latin American civilizations, the urgent need to de-escalate the conflict and institute an appropriate dialogue, face-to-face, between the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela,” Gonsalves said in his letter.
Both leaders had concurred with that assessment in the quest for peaceful co-existence and are on public record to commit to the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and the maintenance of international law.
According to Gonsalves in his letter, experience had taught that it was mature, wise and preferable for leaders of nation in conflict with each other to speak to each other calmly, respectfully and with patience in order to avoid an escalation into threats or the use of force.
“We are all aware that the government of Guyana is seeking the resolution of the border controversy through the processes of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)…we are cognizant, too, that the government of Venezuela has rejected the path of the ICJ as the modality fir resolution,” Gonsalves wrote.
And although the Guyanese Parliament had unanimously instructed President Ali not to discuss the matter with government of Venezuela and the people of Venezuela had advised its government not to accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ, Gonsalves stated that there was much for both leaders to discuss.
Gonsalves indicated that Maduro and Ali were both free to suggest requisite modalities of the face-to-face dialogue and that he and Prime Minister Roosevelt were available to assist.