PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali started 2024 as the new Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), championing collaboration instead of confrontation, sharing neighbourly commonalities and reiterating Guyana’s commitment to preserving the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

The President had reflected on the outcome of his December 14, 2023 summit with Venezuelan Counterpart President Nicolas Maduro in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and said he’d approached it “with a clear understanding that Guyana wants, first of all, peace and stability within this region” and ensuring, “We will do everything to ensure that Guyana and the wider Caribbean region enjoy peace and stability.”

He maintained that any destabilisation of Caribbean peace and stability would not only affect Guyana, but also the economies of all its neighbours, including Brazil, which depends heavily on transportation and logistics as one of the major exporters of food and other raw materials and a major importer of fertilisers and other chemicals.

Presidents Ali and Maduro last month agreed Guyana and Venezuela will not threaten or use force against each other in any circumstances, including the border controversy — and that any controversies will be resolved in accordance with international law.

They also agreed to continue dialogue on any other pending matters of mutual importance to the two countries and to avoid incidents that can re-escalate tensions, which, if they arise, will be immediately communicated with each another, as well as with CARICOM, CELAC and the President of Brazil, to contain, reverse and prevent recurrence.

The two states established a joint commission of Foreign Ministers and technical persons to address all related matters, an update from which will be submitted to the two presidents. The first meeting of the joint commission is set to take place today in Brasilia, Brazil.

President Ali has already urged his counterpart to concentrate more on possibilities of mutual cooperation, instead of concentrating on whipping-up tensions over matters that do not contribute to the spirit of the Argyle Accord.

Guyana and Venezuela have both identified concrete areas of cooperation that the two can cooperate on, and it will be well for Caracas to pay more attention to cooperation than prolonging discording discussions that do not contribute to successful implementation of the agreed accord.

President Ali underscored that peaceful neighbourly ties are more worthy of pursuit than continuing unending neighbourly quarrels.

Keeping the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace starts with every nation doing its utmost to preserve the status quo by not only talking about peace, but also actually engaging in peacebuilding exercises, including strengthening national defenses to protect the region from external interventions. And in this regard, Guyana is leading the way.