The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, spoke by telephone with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on a proposal for dialogue with Guyana over the dispute over the Essequibo territory.
(Also read: Tension rises: US gives support to Guyana in territorial dispute with Venezuela)
The request for dialogue was promoted by the president of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva, and by Ralph Consalves, pro tempore president of Celac.
In a statement, Venezuela assured that it was willing to dialogue with Guyana, a country that has not responded to the invitation. but it is expected that in the coming days the notification will be received to begin the high-level meeting.
The Guyanese government has not yet commented on the proposal, but the Venezuelan Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez, assured that his neighbor accepted the meeting.
The meeting will be held in order to “maintain Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, without interference from external actors.”
The meeting will be held in order to “maintain Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, without interference from external actors, in accordance with what was agreed upon by both countries within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). “, according to the text.
Venezuela and Guyana have disputed the Essequibo territory for more than a century, but tensions have soared since the Maduro government held a controversial referendum last Sunday in which 95% of voters supported declaring Venezuela as the legitimate owner of the region, according to official results.
The meeting proposal comes after Lula urged Maduro by phone not to take “unilateral measures” that would intensify the dispute and reinforce his military presence on his northern border.
Other South American countries, as well as Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, recently called for detente and a peaceful solution.
Maduro also spoke with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, according to the Foreign Ministry statement.
According to Venezuela, Guterres “committed to promoting efforts in favor of direct dialogue between the parties, and recalled that he has always offered his good offices to resolve the controversy.”
A historic dispute
Both countries have accused each other of engaging in “provocations” amid the tension, which rose after Venezuela held a consultative referendum on December 3 in which more than 95% of the voters who participated approved creating a Venezuelan province in Essequibo – a territory that represents two-thirds of Guyana – and giving Venezuelan nationality to the 125,000 inhabitants of the disputed area.
The controversy had already been worsening since 2015, when the American giant ExxonMobil discovered vast oil reserves in that area. Following the consultation, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced plans to grant licenses and extract crude oil in disputed waters.
ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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