Posing with Venezuelan map that includes Guyana’s Essequibo was ‘innocent’ oversight – PM Gonsalves

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says a photograph of him and other officials posing with a papier-mâche depiction of a Venezuelan map that includes Guyana’s Essequibo region was an “innocent inadvertence” on his part.

Prime Minister Gonsalves, in a letter addressed to Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, also said the photo was taken in December 2022 at an event commemorating the life and work of the great Liberator, Simon Bolivar.

“While the photographs were being taken, I am advised that someone attached to the Venezuelan Embassy placed the “papier-mâche” depiction of the said map in front of us. I did not look at what the depiction was. I assumed that it was about Simon Bolivar.

“It is unfortunate that this innocent inadvertence on my part has been used by some to drum up, unnecessarily, antipathy of one kind or another,” Dr Gonsalves said in his letter.

The photograph began circulating on social media this week and many people questioned why Prime Minister Gonsalves would pose with the controversial map. Mr. Gonsalves has been facilitating talks between the countries following Venezuela’s intensified claims to Guyana’s Essequibo region.

“I understand all the emotions attendant on this controversial issue; and from time-to-time there will be flare- ups,” he, however, said in his letter.

Presidents Ali and Maduro in December met in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Following their meeting, there was an 11-point declaration which includes a commitment from both sides to “refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict.”

Both leaders also agreed to meet again in three months in Brazil.

Prime Minister Gonsalves, as a CARICOM Head of State and President pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), was the interlocutor of the initial meeting.