President Dr. Irfaan Ali of Guyana and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to Meet This Week

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Guyana President Dr. Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, are scheduled to meet in St, Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday amidst heightened tension over the long-running border conflict between the two countries, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has announced.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves at news conference on Saturday night (CMC Photo)Gonsalves told a news conference here that the two leaders will meet in Kingstown and that the decision was communicated in a letter that he wrote to Presidents  Ali and Maduro on Saturday.

In his letter Prime Minister Gonsalves said that both leaders have agreed to meet face-to-face in St. Vincent at 10.00 a.m (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.

The letter 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 da Silva.

“Given the recent events and circumstances attendant upon the border controversy, the leadership’s of CELAC and CARICOM have assessed in the interest of all concerned, including our Caribbean and Latin American civilisations, the urgent need to de-escalate the conflict, and institute an appropriate dialogue, face to face between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela,” Gonsalves wrote.

Gonsalves told reporters the “discussion would relate to matters consequential upon the border controversy which exists between Guyana and Venezuela,” Gonsalves told reporters, indicating that he not intended to address the matter until Monday.

But he said that the Guyanese government had released the letter,which he wrote.

“Today, I can’t answer what is going to be the outcome. What I do know with certainty, that it is better for people in conflict to be talking,” Gonsalves said.

“You can resolve misunderstandings — agent provocateurs can create challenges also. And if you’re talking, and you’re respectful, and you’re mature and understanding and wise, and you take your populations along with you in that particular process, you are less likely to end up with threats of force or the actual use of force,” Gonsalves said.

“Now, anyone who’s studied very carefully, discussions to end conflicts, there’s a prolonged period in which it may appear as though you’re not making any progress. And there are several issues on which for them to devise modalities as to how they would proceed.”

Gonsalves, who last Friday participated in a meeting of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to discuss the Guyana-Venezuela border issue, pointed out that at the discussions in Paris in the early 1970s to end the Vietnam War, a long period of time was spent discussing the shape of the table and the seating arrangements for the disputants.

“The point I’m making is that… we just have to be mature and wise, respectful, patient and calm,” Gonsalves said.

“And I have confidence that the leadership’s in Venezuela, and in Guyana, all of these things, but each side has its own sets of national interests to look at and for,” he told the media.

CARICOM leaders, at which President Ali was also present, ended their meeting “firmly” supporting Guyana in its border dispute with Venezuela over the ownership of the mineral rich Essequibo region.

A statement issued following their virtual meeting, said that the regional leaders are also urging Caracas “to respect the conservatory measures determined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its recent ruling until a final resolution.

“CARICOM firmly supports Guyana in pursuance of the resolution of its border controversy with Venezuela through the process of the ICJ,” the leaders of the 15-member grouping that includes Guyana said in the statement.

Last Sunday Venezuela staged a referendum in which it said 95 per cent of the votes cast were in support of the annexation of the Essequibo region and President Maduro  announced soon afterwards that foreign companies working in the Essequibo region would have to withdraw within three months.

He said he was also proposing a special law to prohibit all companies that work under Guyana concessions from any transaction and that Caracas would be creating a military unit for the disputed territory but that it would be based in a neighboring Venezuelan state.

Prior to the referendum, the ICJ had ruled that Venezuela must not take any action to seize Essequibo, which has been administered by Guyana for more than a century.

The Essequibo makes up about two-thirds of Guyanese territory and is home to 125,000 of the country’s 800,000 citizens, but is also claimed by Venezuela.

In its ruling, the Court said “unanimously both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve”.

Asked by reporters about the value of the meeting here on Thursday between the leaders of Guyana and Venezuela, given that Guyana is insisting that the border controversy must be resolved by the ICJ and Venezuela was maintaining a bilateral solution, Prime Minister Gonsalves responded by saying “there are many things to be addressed.

“And the matter of the commitment to international law, the commitment to peace, to maintain the region as a zone of peace, and not to go to open conflict.

“All those things are of great importance. And I’m sure when leaders sit down, they will search for and find modalities to continue to maintain a peaceful coexistence. They are neighbours. Guyana and Venezuela are neighbours. You can’t take up either of them and carry them to Vladivostok,” Gonsalves said.

“… it is not beyond the leaders to help to save the region from intense conflict which will bring about lots of pain and suffering, and would set back this region more than a generation. And that’s why I also framed the issue in terms of the interests of Caribbean and Latin American civilisations.”

On Saturday night, the main opposition coalition of A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) in Guyana welcomed the decision by Ali and Maduro to meet next week in St. Vincent but said the border controversy must not be the subject of those talks.

“The opposition believes that there must not be any discussions of the territorial controversy between our two countries as this matter is properly before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and this process must be allowed to take its course so that it is settled within the confines of international law,” APNU+AFC said in a statement.

In addition, the Organization of American States (OAS) is scheduled to debate in Washington on Monday a “particular resolution” on the border conflict,” Gonsalves said.

“… and there is some hope or even expectation that perhaps we can see a shelving for a period of time, at least for the time being, of this particular resolution.

“Of course, we don’t have any control over that,” Gonsalves said, adding, “but that is something which I express in a hopeful way but we must not allow anything to derail this initial face-to-face dialogue or subsequent ones.

“Because not to be talking is very dangerous and it is something which I believe this matter would weigh in the way in which I’m presenting it, to the people of the Caribbean and Latin America, it will weigh very heavily on people’s hearts and minds.”

Gonsalves said that both Ali and Maduro “concurred with this assessment in the quest of peaceful coexistence, the application and respect for international law and the avoidance of the use or threats of force.

“Both of you are on public record of committing to the Caribbean as a zone of peace and the maintenance of international law,” he wrote in the letter

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines leader said experience has taught humanity that it is “mature, wise and preferable for leaders of nations which are in conflict to speak to each other calmly, respectfully, and with patience in order to avoid an escalation into threats, or the use of force.

“To be sure, the resolution of old controversies in challenging contemporary times is never easy for leaders. It is strenuous, but the strenuous life pursued in peace is to be preferred to one of ignoble ease in perpetual conflict or violent encounter.”

Gonsalves noted that Guyana is seeking to resolve the controversy through the ICJ, which is currently seized of the matter.

He also noted that Venezuela has rejected the path of the ICJ as the modality for resolution.

“The parliament of Guyana has unanimously instructed the president of Guyana not to discuss the border controversy with the Government of Venezuela. The people of Venezuela, have advised overwhelmingly in a consultative referendum on December the third 2023 their government not to accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in the matter of the border controversy,” Gonsalves wrote.

He said each of the two leaders “has to summon the proverbial wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job and the foresight of all the ancient prophets to engender good neighborliness in peace, justice, security, and prosperity for all concerned”.

Gonsalves said there was much for the two leaders to raise and or discuss “on matters consequential to the border controversy, even as you respect the advice or more of your respective peoples and parliament or National Assembly”.

He told the two presidents that they are each free to suggest “requisite modalities of the face-to-face dialogue, inclusive of the role of any named interlocutor or interlocutors”.

Gonsalves said he and Skerrit are “available to assist in whatever constructive way each of you may suggest or require…

“Time is of the essence. Let us all resolve to make this historic gathering a successful one. So much is at stake for Caribbean and Latin American civilization,” Gonsalves further wrote.

Gonsalves toold reporters that he had been seeking since September 29, in his capacity as pro tempore president of CELAC to have a dialogue between Venezuela and Guyana.

He said that both presidents are his friends and the countries are also members of CELAC.

“Of course, there’s a time and season for everything,” he said, echoing the Bible.

“… there’s a time to keep quiet, there’s a time to talk. And there is a time for peace, and there is a time for fighting. And all the circumstances have made it possible for us to have this dialogue,” he said.

He said prior to sending out the letter to the two leaders, he held talks with “President Ali and Vice President (Bharrat) Jagdeo from Guyana and with President Maduro,” he said, adding that he has also been in communication with the  Cuban government, the Offices of the Secretary General of the United Nations as well as the President of Honduras, who will take over the pro tempore presidency of CELAC at the beginning of March, as well as the immediate past pro tempore president of CELAC, the president of Argentina,

He said he had also spoken to the foreign minister of the Federative Republic of Brazil to see “if we could ascertain the presence of President Lula here on Thursday. But a formal letter has already been sent to President Lula,” he added.