Guyana says it refuses to bow to Venezuela in the regional dispute

KINGSTON, St. Vincent (AP) — Guyana has refused to bow to Venezuela in its dispute over an oil- and mineral-rich region claimed by both countries, the small South American nation said Thursday as its president met with the Venezuelan leader in the latest chapter in the dispute. Bitter rivalry.

The Guyana government said Guyana’s control of Essequibo, a vast border region located along its border with Venezuela, “is not up for debate, negotiation or deliberation.”

Guyanese President Irfaan Ali echoed these comments during a press conference held during a break in talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

“This all belongs to Guyana,” Ali said, pointing to a thick leather bracelet on his right wrist bearing the outlines of Guyana. “No narrative propaganda (or) decree can change this. “This is Guyana.”

Ali noted that while both parties are committed to maintaining peace in the region, Guyana is “not the aggressor.”

“Guyana does not seek war, but Guyana reserves the right to work with all our partners to ensure the defense of our country,” he said.

Maduro did not speak to reporters during the break. “We will make the most of it so that Latin America and the Caribbean remain a zone of peace,” he had said before the meeting.

The two presidents held hands before their talks while the leaders around them applauded.

The tension over Essequibo has raised fears of a military conflict, although many believe that is unlikely. Venezuela insists that the Essequibo region was part of its territory during the Spanish colonial period and says that the Geneva Agreement of 1966 between Venezuela, Britain and British Guiana at the time abolished the borders drawn by international arbitrators in 1899.

The century-old conflict recently flared up again with Discovery of lumps of oil In Guyana. the He disputes Tensions escalated when Venezuela announced that its citizens had voted in elections December 3 referendum to claim two-thirds of their smaller neighbour.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden administration officials are closely monitoring rising tensions. “We don’t want to see this conflicted,” Kirby said. “There is no reason for that and our diplomats are engaged in real time.”

Ali and Maduro first met individually with prime ministers and other officials from the region who pushed for the meeting to be held at Argyle International Airport in St. Vincent. The Guyanese government said it was awaiting a ruling from the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands on the dispute, and said in its statement Thursday that regional leaders “agreed with Guyana’s position.”

Before the meeting, Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said, “If we use a cricket metaphor, this is not a one-day cricket match.”

“The fact that they will be speaking is very important on friendly and neutral soil like St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.

The President of Venezuela did it State-owned enterprises ordered To explore and exploit oil, gas and mines in Essequibo. And they have both sides And put their armies on alert.

In a letter to Gonsalves on Tuesday, Ali rejected what he said was Maduro’s characterization of “the intervention of the United States Southern Command, which has begun operations in the disputed region.”

US Southern Command has conducted air operations inside Guyana in recent days.

“Any allegation of a military operation targeting Venezuela in any part of Guyanese territory is false, misleading and provocative,” Ali said in the letter.

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Associated Press reporter Danica Cotto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.

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