GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President Irfaan Ali says his meeting on Thursday with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would be confined to discussing the need for peace and respect for international law despite their ongoing border dispute.
President Irfaan Ali (File PHoto)Ali, in a letter responding to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who has arranged the meeting in Kingstown, said that he be attending the talks “in answer to the call by colleague” CARICOM leaders for “appropriate dialogue” “to ensure peaceful coexistence, the application and respect for international law and the avoidance of the use or threats of force.”
Gonsalves said the two leaders, whose countries are at odds over the ownership of the Essequibo county in Guyana, had agreed to meet face-to-face 10.00 am (local time). on Thursday under the under the auspices of the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC), of which St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the pro tempore, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), whose current chairman is the Dominica Prime Minster, Roosevelt Skerrit.
Gonsalves said that Ali and Maduro have requested the presence of President of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, adding that an invitation had been sent to the Brazilian leader.
“I don’t want to preempt what we will do or preempt what will be the outcome of the discussion but we have made it very clear…and we are hoping that good sense will prevail. We are hoping that there will be a full commitment to peace, respect for our borders and for peace within the region,” Ali said.
He said in his response to Gonsalves had been copied to President Maduro, President Da Silva, Prime Minister Skerritt and CARICOM Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett.
He noted that CARICOM leaders reasserted that they firmly support Guyana in resolving its border controversy with Venezuela through the International Court of Justice (ICJ), urged Venezuela to respect an order to respect the existing boundary with Guyana until a final resolution and reiterated its commitment to the Caribbean as a zone of peace and the maintenance of international law.
“We are not going to remove from the ICJ, we are not going to step out from the ICJ. We have made it clear that this controversy with the ICJ,” he said.
Ali vowed that Guyana would take action to prohibit Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas , and mining companies to search for oil, gas and minerals as well as establish a military zone in Essequibo and the granting of Venezuelan citizenship and identification cards to Guyanese nationals.
“We are not going to allow any of this to happen in Guyana. Let me make it very clear. He can announce and issue but none of this-we are working with our allies, we are working with our partners to ensure there is absolutely no overstepping into the sacred space of Guyana which includes comprehensively and in totality the Essequibo,” Ali said.
