President of Guyana David Granger and President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro are expected to be in attendance at a meeting today, organised by United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Director of Communica-tions Mark Archer said last evening.
Over the past few days it had been reported that Maduro had called for a meeting, but there was no confirmation on whether Granger had been formally approached.
Contacted for clarity, Archer who has knowledge of the president’s schedule, told Stabroek News that the UN Secretary General had organised a meeting for today and it is expected that both presidents will be in attendance.
The meeting will no doubt deal with the ongoing border controversy, which escalated recently with armed Venezuelan troops pooling at locations close to the Guyana/ Venezuela border and armed boats belonging to Venezuela traversing the Cuyuni River which falls within Guyana’s territory.
Stabroek News was told subsequently that the meeting is scheduled to be held at 7 pm at the UN headquarters in New York. Granger is to make his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday and will return to Guyana the following day.
In May this year, Maduro issued a Decree claiming most of Guyana’s territorial waters along the Essequibo Coast, thereby triggering a deterioration in relations with Guyana. That Decree was subsequently withdrawn and replaced with a