Meeting planned to discuss Guyana-Venezuela dispute

THE prime minister of Dominica has announced that Caricom countries under the auspices of the Argyle agreement are planning to meet this week with representatives from Guyana and Venezuela on the latest border dispute incident.

On March 3, several Caribbean media outlets including Grenada-based WPG10 reported Roosevelt Skerrit saying: "We are in discussions with both sides and we are seeking to have a meeting some time this week with both sides to continue ensuring that the articles within the Argyle declaration continue to be observed and so we can continue to have the region as a zone of peace."

In December 2023, in Argyle, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ali and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro held discussions on matters related to the territorial dispute.

All parties reiterated their commitment to remaining a zone of peace in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Guyana and Venezuela made several declarations, including agreeing not to threaten or use force against one another under any circumstances, including those arising from any existing controversies between the two countries.

On March 1, Guyana's president Dr Irfaan Ali denounced what he called an incursion, alleging a Venezuelan Coast Guard vessel entered Guyana's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

He said the vessel then approached the offshore platform Prosperity FPSO (floating, production, storage, and offloading).

The alleged incursion intensified tensions between the neighbouring South American countries on the long-standing territorial dispute of the Essequibo region, which is a resource-rich area.

Since Ali's announcement, several countries and organisations, including the US and Caricom, have expressed concerns, many echoing Ali's cries. The US accused the Venezuelan naval vessels of threatening ExxonMobil's FPSO.

In its defence, Venezuela charged that the FPSO was operating in Venezuela's EEZ and labelled Ali "the Caribbean's Zelenskyy," referring to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

That same day, March 1, Venezuela's vice president Delcy Rodriguez urged Caricom to "play a constructive role" and avoid a "conflict" in the region.

On the proposed meeting, Dominica's prime minister was quoted as saying: "It is discussions we have to have. We always believe that we can only resolve matters in the world through diplomacy."

"Same thing happening with Russia and the Ukraine war…engaging, diplomacy and we must not give up on the good old dialogue and discussions and using our good offices in Caricom to ensure that the Caribbean remains a zone of peace."

Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told reporters that a protocol for ongoing dialogue is already in place.

"We have a permanent Argyle accord in place that allows prime minister Ralph Gonsalves (St Vincent and the Grenadines) to act as interlocutor between Georgetown and Caracas. This obviously is an ongoing issue.

"We expect that from time to time there might be disagreements or different perspectives and we expect that Caricom and particularly the mechanisms set up by the Argyle convention to be triggered by either or both sides."

Support for Guyana continues to pour in.

On March 3, a statement from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs expressed concerns over the alleged incursion and threw support for Guyana.

The statement said: "France calls on Venezuela to respect Guyana's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the principles of international law and the order issued by the International Court of Justice on December 1, 2023, stating that it must refrain from any unilateral action liable to alter the situation that currently exists off the coast of Essequibo."