Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, the main interlocutor of the Argyle Declaration between Guyana and Venezuela is in Venezuela meeting with President Nicholas Maduro according to a statement issued by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Agency for Public Information.
According to the statement Gonsalves left St. Vincent at 6:30 hrs today to hold talks with Maduro as tensions rise between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region.
Gonsalves, the statement said, was expected to meet with Maduro at midday.
“The Prime Minister spoke with the President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Monday, urging calm and restraint and for both parties to return to diplomacy”.
Prime Minister Gonsalves cautioned that an escalation into open conflict could devastate both nations economically and socially and destabilize the entire Latin America and Caribbean region. An escalation of open conflict he said too could leave the region with a humanitarian and refugee crisis, as he urged the sides to resolve the matter.
Tensions escalated between the sides two weeks after a Venezuelan naval vessel entered Guyana’s waters.
The Venezuela Coast Guard vessel while in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) questioned the Captain of a FPSO on their presence in the area.
The incursion was condemned by many of Guyana’s international partners among the United States, United Kingdom, CARICOM, and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
Gonsalves in a statement days after the incident said it was clear that the oils were operating within Guyana’s water. a
Venezuela for years has illegally laid claim to Guyana’s Essequibo Region. Nicholas Maduro announced that elections will be held in Essequibo to name a governor.
This saw Guyana moving to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking provisional measures against Venezuela, which were granted.
The boundary between Guyana and Venezuela was settled in 1899 with the arbitral award.