By Kurt Campbell in St Vincent
kurt@newsroom.gy
Talks between Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro are underway in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with the Guyanese leader saying “facts” are what will dictate the meeting.
The talks Thursday morning are taking place at the Argyle International Airport, currently overrun by security officials and there is a tense atmosphere.
A calm Dr. Ali arrived moments before Maduro and was escorted by Prime Minister of St. Vincent Dr. Ralph Gonsalves to the meeting room.
He reiterated that the talks will only surround the facts of the decades old border controversy between the neighbouring countries.
“I’m taking the facts with me and the facts remain that the 1899 Award clearly defines the border between Guyana and Venezuela” –Dr. Ali said moments before the high-level dialogue between himself and President Maduro commenced.
Maduro also gave brief comments to the press upon his arrival but spoke in Spanish.
Also attending the meeting are several CARICOM Heads including Barbados’ Mia Mottley, Trinidad’s Dr. Keith Rowley and Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerrit.
A United Nations Under-Secretary General and representatives from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) are also attending.
Gonsalves regarded Ali and Maduro as wise and mature men and said he expects patience and calm.
“We have to de-escalate and in the de-escalation, we may find possible solutions certainly in this particular case to address matters consequential to the border controversy.
“We have two leaders who are mature and wise, Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela and I expect them to apply their maturity and wisdom and patience and calm,” Dr. Gonsalves said.
President Ali has made it clear that the border controversy will not be discussed at this meeting. He has consistently said he is willing to engage his Venezuelan counterpart on any shared matter but not the controversy since that is squarely before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
At that court, Guyana seeks a final, binding settlement of the controversy, reaffirming that the 1899 Arbitral Award established the boundary between itself and Venezuela. In simple terms, Guyana wants the Court to determine, once and for all, that the Essequibo region is its own.
The President has said that he agreed to the talks, facilitated by the Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, in the interest of de-escalating the Venezuelan threat to peace in the Caribbean and Latin American region.
Venezuela continues to assert claims over Guyana’s Essequibo region, a resource rich region of gold and diamonds and massive oilfields offshore. The International Court of Justice recently ruled that Guyana has governed and exercised sovereignty over the Essequibo Region since 1899 when an arbitration tribunal demarcated the land boundary between the two countries, and Venezuela should refrain from seeking to change that.
But Maduro pressed ahead with a referendum and then installed a governor he said would administer the affairs of Essequibo and issue ID cards to citizens and also grant licences for Venezuelan companies to work in Guyana.
Guyana and the international community has condemned the actions of the Venezuelan President and the high-level talks were called to seek a de-escalation of the conflict.
Guyana is working with key international allies, including the US and Brazil, to shore ups its defence capability given the threat by Venezuela.
President Ali said his talks with Maduro would focus on the fact that the 1899 award is what defined the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela and he would be uncompromising in that position.
