Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yván Gil remains optimistic that the latest round of high-level talks with Guyana will bring a peaceful resolution to the dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region which Guyana currently controls.
Last Thursday, Gil held a meeting with Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd in Brazil.
It is the first high-level meeting for 2024 after the Argyle Agreement in St Vincent and the Grenadines last December, where Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali agreed to peacefully resolve the dispute.
On his X account Gil wrote, “Venezuela continues to support direct dialogue to resolve the Essequibo territorial controversy and preserve peace in our region. We thank once again The Community of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC) and the support of Brazil and Caricom for supporting this first meeting of the Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, in line with the Argyle Declaration.”
Guyana’s President on his X account also posted images of the meeting.
The meeting on Thursday was held at Itamarty Palace, Ministry of External Affairs in the Brazilian city of Brasilia. Brazil facilitated the meeting, represented by the Foreign Minister of Brazil, Mauro Vieira while the United Nations and CELAC observed.
Last December, both countries in a meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines at which Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as well as Caricom leaders were present, agreed that violence and force would not be used to solve the dispute over the Essequibo region.
A mere two weeks after the Argyle Agreement, Venezuela held large scale military drills after a British warship visited Guyana.
In the face of Venezuela’s military drills and claims to the Essequibo region, Guyana has continued to strengthen ties with the United States Army.
Last week, Guyanese newspaper, Stabroek News reported that a team of US Army advisors assigned to the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) is in Guyana to facilitate knowledge exchange and leadership training with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
‘Don’t touch the oil’
Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, Switzerland last week, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro added his voice to the Guyana land controversy by saying that no country should be exploiting the oil-rich Essequibo region so as to protect the environment.
“The matter lies not in who owns (the territory of) Essequibo, but rather in that no oil production whatsoever should be carried out there,” Petro argued before the panel “seeking a balance for the Amazon.”
“We have to compensate Guyana and Venezuela so that this oil that is in the Amazon jungle, in the territory of the Essequibo, does not leave,” Colombia’s President concluded.
He also warned that if peace talks were not held, there could be a potential war between Guyana and Venezuela.
