President Irfaan Ali yesterday said he was going to the meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with an open mind in the interest of peace in the region but reiterated that the border and ICJ case were off the table.
“We don’t live in a region by ourselves. We have respect for our bilateral partners, our regional partners. I have made very clear, our position. We are a peaceful country. Our only ambition is to protect what belongs to us and we have absolutely no difficulty in meeting with any of our neighbours,” Ali told reporters following the commissioning of the Heroes’ Highway, yesterday.
“We continue to talk about development, to work as neighbours, co-exist as neighbours and ensure this region remains a region of peace, a region of stability. Our regional partners requested of us to have this conversation. We outlined very clearly where we stand in relation to the controversy and have made it clear we are not averse to talking.”
He emphasised that this nation should rest assured that he will not deviate from his plans and that “100 percent” there will be no talks on border matters.
The President said that he couldn’t be clearer that this country holds firm that it wants the matter settled.
“When we get to the talks, there is a lot still to talk about. We are both part of the same region. If we are concerned about the development of our country, our region [then] there are so many things to talk about. You have the migration issue, there is climate change. There are consequential matters. … The important thing is to ensure this region remains stable and peaceful…, “Ali said.
Asked if Maduro told him that Venezuelans have decided that Essequibo was a Venezuelan state what would be his reply, Ali said, “the 1899 Tribunal Award settled where the Essequibo belongs. It belongs squarely in the geographical space of Guyana. The second thing [I would say is] the Geneva Agreement provided for the Secretary General to appoint a place where this controversy should be settled, the ICJ …and that is where it will be settled.”
Ali had earlier in the day expressed the same views, as he told the nation during a live broadcast that they can depend on him to not have the border talks or ICJ matter be part of Thursday’s dialogue.
He said that he expected that good sense will “prevail and the commitment to peace, stability, and the threat of disruption will cease. And I assure all Guyanese, investors, our development in all ten of the administrative regions and all three of our counties will continue unimpeded.”
Guyana, he said, “is committed to peace and every action that will ensure that the region remains a region of peace and stability. We have a commitment to this region to work together to ensure the prosperity and stability of our region. We have said that we have no objections to any conversations with Venezuela with the aim of ensuring the peace and stability of our region.”
On Saturday, the Office of the President (OP) announced that the President had accepted the meeting with Maduro on Thursday.
The opposition and government stood together in agreement with the decision, as the matter is before the International Court of Justice and they jointly believe that the process must be able to take its course, so that it is settled within the confines of international law.
“President Ali reiterated that Guyana’s land boundary is not up for discussion, as it is currently before the ICJ and, when adjudicated, will be fully respected by Guyana. The President, on numerous occasions, has made it explicitly clear that the case before the ICJ will not be an issue for bilateral discussions,” the statement from OP said.
OP disclosed that Ali was approached on Saturday by St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, about a meeting between Caracas and Georgetown, to be held in Kingstown which will be observed by a UN Under-Secretary General as well as representatives of Brazil, and Caricom. It has been proposed that the Brazilian President be in attendance.
Ali, according to OP, was contacted by leaders representing the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Brazil, and several bilateral partners, “encouraging dialogue with the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
It said that on Friday evening, during an emergency meeting of the Heads of Government of Caricom, the Heads had asked Ali to explore the possibility of a meeting with President Maduro in St Vincent.
Ali, however, emphasised that Guyana is clear that the advancement of its “development agenda will not be compromised.
“Our development partners and investors can be assured that there will be no changes or alterations to existing arrangements,” the statement said.
In the letter sent by Prime Minister Gonsalves, with subject – `Re: Presidential meeting to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines under the auspices of CELAC and Caricom on Thursday December 14, 2023 on matters consequential to the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela’ – it outlined that both sides had agreed and both had asked that Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva be present.
Gonsalves’s missive pointed out that everyone was “aware that the government of Guyana is seeking the resolution of the border controversy through the processes of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which is currently seized of the matter.
“We are cognizant, too, that the government of Venezuela has rejected the path of the ICJ as the modality for resolution.”
Gonsalves noted that Guyana’s parliament had unanimously instructed the President not to discuss the border controversy with the government of Venezuela.
According to his missive, “The people of Venezuela have advised, overwhelmingly, in a consultative referendum on December 3, 2023, their government not to accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in the matter of border controversy.”
The crisis in relations between Guyana and Venezuela was triggered by Caracas’s decision to convene a referendum on December 3, which had as its objective the annexation of Guyana’s county of Essequibo. Guyana then approached the ICJ for provisional measures which were handed down on December 1 and which proscribed Caracas from taking any steps against Guyana’s control of Essequibo. Despite this, Maduro, on December 5, announced a seven-point plan which included authorising oil exploration in an area around the Essequibo River. He also said that state oil company PDVSA and state iron and steel maker CVG will create divisions for the Essequibo region.
The state companies will “immediately proceed to create the division PDVSA Esequibo and CVG Esequibo and immediately we’ll proceed to give operating licences for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mines in our Guayana Esequiba,” he said on state television.
Maduro also said he proposed a law to the government-controlled legislature to create the new state which was later done. In addition to this, Maduro ordered that a new map that includes Essequibo be dispersed to sectors of the Bolivarian republic.
In a statement, made during the General Assembly of the Federal Council of Government, Maduro further announced: “The people have decided to nationalise all citizens in that territory with their Venezuelan identity card, acknowledging them as brothers of our country, and to create the state of Guayana Esequiba …We are going to seek justice and restore Venezuela’s rights over Guayana Esequiba. Our country will come together”.
Maduro also disclosed plans to create the Integral Defence Zone of “Guayana Esequiba”. This zone would be essentially administered by the Guayana Integral Defence Region and comprise three areas of integral development and 28 sectors within the Essequibo region. In the interim, Major General Rodriguez Cabello has been designated as Guayana Esequiba’s only political and administrative authority in the town that they are taking over, pending further legislative discussions on the subject.
Further, Maduro asked the relevant vice presidents and ministers to support the initiative and provide all schools with a fresh map that shows the “new Venezuela” which has been created as a result of the December 3 decision.
