Neighbours urge Venezuela, Guyana to settle Esequibo dispute peacefully

South American countries have urged Venezuela and Guyana to seek a peaceful solution to their territorial dispute over the Esequibo region, warning the nations to avoid "unilateral actions" on the conflict.

Members of the Mercosur trade bloc "express their deep concern at the rise in tensions between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana," said a joint statement on Thursday from the bloc's member countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

"Latin America should be a region of peace," the statement added.

Non-Mercosur members Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru also signed the statement.

The countries urged both parties "to engage in dialogue and seek a peaceful solution to the dispute, in order to avoid unilateral actions and initiatives that could aggravate it."

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, meanwhile, called for Venezuela to cease unilateral action regarding its border dispute with Guyana.

Cameron, speaking at a news conference in Washington following a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said he hopes to have phone calls later with the president of Guyana and others in the region.

Long-running dispute

Guyana, a country that gained independence from British mandate and later joined the Commonwealth after British and Dutch colonial exploitation of over a century, insists the Esequibo's frontier was determined by an arbitration panel in 1899. But Venezuela claims the Esequibo River to the region's east forms a natural border recognised as far back as 1777.

The long-running dispute over Esequibo has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered oil there in 2015, with Caracas calling a referendum after Guyana started auctioning off oil blocks in the region in August.

Voters were asked to respond to five referendum questions, including whether Venezuela should reject the 1899 arbitration decision as well as the International Court of Justice’s [ICJ] jurisdiction.

They were also asked whether Venezuelan citizenship should be granted to the English-speaking people, currently Guyanese, of a new "Guyana Esequiba State" — "consequently incorporating said State on the map of Venezuelan territory."

Officials in Caracas said 95 percent of voters supported the measures.