European Union (EU) Ambassador to Guyana Fernando Ponz Cantó is hoping for a peaceful resolution to the latest tensions between Guyana and Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters during an interview at his Sendell Place, Stabroek office on Thursday afternoon, Cantó said that the EU always supports international law. “We are supporting international law not only on this problem but on every problem and of course we also support respect for each other’s territorial integrity,” the Ambassador said.
He stated that the EU has also encouraged “peaceful and not violent” resolutions of these matters.
He added that he was “very” encouraged by the manner in which authorities of Guyana resolved the previous tensions when the Guyanese fisherman were detained in Venezuela. “I think this was resolved in a very relatively rapid and I would say good way because it was peaceful, it was rapid and the persons could come back home relatively soon,” Cantó noted.
His comments came in wake of official confirmation that two Venezuelan fighter jets flew over Eteringbang, Region Seven.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that approximately 1.20 pm on Tuesday, two Russian-made Venezuelan army fighter jets overflew the community and the airstrip at a very low altitude of 1500 feet.
The fighter jets, according to the statement, circled the location once before proceeding in an easterly direction.
“The Government of Guyana condemns this latest act of aggression by the Venezuelan armed forces as a violation of the sovereignty of Guyana over the air above its territory,” the statement noted.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd has since summoned the Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana, Luis Edgardo Diaz Monclus, to hand over a protest note and register Guyana’s condemnation of the recent violation of its sovereignty.
Todd had voiced Government’s concerns on the act of aggression and stated that such an action was a clear violation of Guyana’s territorial space as well as international law and conventions.
