Dr. Richard Van West-Charles on Friday presented his Letters of Credence to Yvan Gil, Minister for People’s Power for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
A release yesterday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Gil and Van West-Charles engaged in cordial discussions.
The release said that Ambassador Van West-Charles affirmed the imperative of peace and cooperation as guiding principles for the relations between Guyana and Venezuela.
In this regard, he committed to “working during his tenure to pursue Guyana’s interests in exploring the potential for collaboration in areas that would provide an opportunity for the neighbouring countries to develop a programme of cooperation for the mutual benefit of both peoples”.
The release said that Van West-Charles will present his credentials to President Nicolas Maduro at a later date.
Van West-Charles’ accreditation comes amid broiling tensions between the two countries after Venezuela staged a referendum on December 3rd purportedly to annexe Guyana’s county of Essequibo.
This had been preceded by troop movements along Guyana’s frontier and attempts to coerce it to engage in direct talks on the border controversy between the two countries despite Georgetown’s approach to the International Court of Justice for a juridical settlement of the matter.
Tensions eased somewhat after a December 14th meeting between President Irfaan Ali and President Maduro in St Vincent and the Grenadines which produced the Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela which said that they both “Agreed that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, will not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States”.
