Leaders of Venezuela, Guyana meet to lower tensions over Essequibo dispute

The presidents of Venezuela and Guyana have met in the Caribbean for talks that analysts say could "de-escalate" tensions but will do little to resolve their countries' long-standing — and now reheating — territorial dispute.

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and Guyana's Irfaan Ali shook hands after a two-hour meeting, on Thursday, however, there was no immediate news on the outcome of talks about Caracas's claim on the oil-rich Essequibo region, which makes up more than two-thirds of neighboring Guyana.

Although it appeared little had changed, it was promising for a peaceful solution.

"Guyana has all the right... to facilitate any investment, any partnership... the issuing of any license and the granting of any concession in our sovereign space," Ali said after leaving the two-hour meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines that took place after months of escalating discord that has raised fears in the region of a potential conflict over the remote area of 160,000 square kilometres.

"All of this belongs to Guyana,” Ali said, pointing to a thick leather bracelet on his right wrist featuring the outline of Guyana. "No narrative propaganda (or) decree can change this. This is Guyana."

Ali noted that while both parties are committed to keeping peace in the region, Guyana "is not the aggressor. Guyana is not seeking war, but Guyana reserves the right to work with all of our partners to ensure the defence of our country."

Maduro did not speak to reporters during the break. He had said ahead of the meeting that "we will make the most of it so that our Latin America and the Caribbean remains a zone of peace."

Maduro's government held a referendum on December 3 in which 95 percent of voters, according to officials in the government, supported declaring Venezuela the rightful owner of Essequibo.

He has since started legal manoeuvres to create a Venezuelan province in Essequibo and ordered the state oil company to issue licenses for extracting crude in the region — moves Ali branded as a "grave threat to international peace and security."

The two leaders have voiced sharply opposing views of the talks.

Maduro had hailed the meeting as a way to directly address the territorial controversy, promising on Thursday on arrival that Venezuela would "defend our rights."

Ahead of the meeting, Ali said he will not discuss the border dispute and insists it should be resolved at the International Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction is not recognised by the Venezuelan government.

"I'm taking in the facts with me," Guyanese media quoted Ali as saying ahead of the talks.

'Nothing substantive'

Shortly before the meeting, Guyana’s government issued a statement in which it refused to bow down to Venezuela in their dispute over the territory.

Also, prior to the meeting, Maduro and Ali met separately with representatives of the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] bloc.

"I think nothing substantive is going to come out in terms of the territorial claim, since Guyana's position is that there are no bilateral talks on the issue, because that is in the International Court of Justice," Sadio Garavini di Turno, former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana, told AFP news agency.

He said a best-case scenario would be a joint statement in which both sides commit "to lower the escalation" and agree that "they are going to continue talking to lower tensions."

Guyana has taken the case to the UN Security Council and approached military "partners," including the United States, which has carried out joint military exercises in Essequibo.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, invited to the talks at both sides' request, has backed a peaceful solution and warned Maduro against "unilateral measures that could escalate the situation."

Brazil, which borders both countries, has also reinforced its troops around the area.

"If this meeting is going to be useful to talk about eradicating the idea of going to an armed conflict, then I welcome it," Ramon Escovar Leon, a lawyer specialised in international litigation told AFP.

Oil, a point of conflict

The decades-old dispute intensified after ExxonMobil discovered oil in Essequibo in 2015, helping give Guyana — which has a population of 800,000 — the world's biggest crude reserves per capita.

The Venezuelan government has accused Ali of being "a slave" of ExxonMobil.

On Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told reporters there could be talk of "cooperation in oil and gas matters."

Gil cited the Petrocaribe agreements, under which Venezuela supplies crude oil at preferential prices to Caribbean countries, and gas deals with Trinidad and Tobago.

He said these were "concrete examples" that "could serve as a basis for future agreements with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana."

The dispute has other South American nations on edge. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay issued a joint declaration calling for "both parties to negotiate to seek a peaceful solution."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned the situation was potentially explosive.

"The biggest misfortune that could hit South America would be a war," he wrote on social media.

Venezuela insists the Essequibo region was part of its territory during the Spanish colonial period, and argues the 1966 Geneva Agreement between their country, Britain and Guyana — a former colony called British Guiana — nullified the border drawn in 1899 by international arbitrators.