–President Ali tells Latin American forum amidst Venezuela’s actions
–maintains country’s commitment to pursuing peaceful resolution of border controversy, plans to encourage neighbours to be ‘good global citizens’

GUYANA has maintained its stance for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing border controversy with its western neighbour, Venezuela.

The country’s Head of State, Dr. Irfaan Ali, while in discussion with leaders at the Sixth Annual Security Challenges in Latin America Forum in the United States of America on Thursday, said the country wants to peacefully coexist with its neighbour.
Dr. Ali’s sentiments follow Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s action to enact a legislation in the Bolivarian Republic to assert its claims to Guyana’s Essequibo region.

“We want to ensure that no action is initiated from Guyana that can destabilise the region that can contribute to the creation of one more problem in the world,” President Ali said.
Maduro’s latest move is a clear violation of the Argyle Declaration – an 11-point agreement that addresses matters consequential to the border controversy, including the fact that Guyana stands firm to its position that the substantial case is before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“We want to help in removing problems from the world. But at the same time, we are not naive. We are very careful, very watchful about everything that is happening. We believe in international law. We have called upon our neighbours to participate fully in the ICJ process and to respect the outcome of the ICJ process,” the Guyanese Head of State said.

Although Guyana’s position is clear, the country’s leaders, he said, are acutely aware of the situation and are determined to ensure all that is contained within the country remains where it ought to be.
Guyana, he said, does not intend to surrender any of its assets to any of its neighbours, but maintained: “Our only intention is to live peacefully and to develop our country for the Guyanese people, but more importantly, ensuring that our prosperity leads to regional prosperity.”

REGIONAL INTEGRATION
The Guyanese Head of State highlighted the country’s push for regional integration to optimise opportunities that exist for greater partnerships and collaborations. The country has already established a trilateral agreement with Brazil and Suriname.

And, according to President Ali, Venezuela is also a partner that could help build the region’s sustainability.
“We have outlined very clearly what we see this integration or how we see the integration should look like and would look like, and Venezuela must understand that they’re part of a region that is working on establishing strong credentials in relation to the rule of law, democracy, respect for each other, [and] respect for territorial integrity,” President Ali said.

He added: “We are going to do all that we can to encourage our neighbours to be good global citizens, and not to deviate from the path of what is good for the citizens of the region, and its citizens of Guyana and Venezuela.”
Back in December 2023, Presidents Ali and Maduro met in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The meeting was facilitated by the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, and observed by Brazil, CARICOM, and a UN Under-Secretary-General.

That meeting culminated with the Argyle Declaration that outlines a pledge from both countries to refrain from escalating the decades-old border controversy between the two states.
The two leaders had also interacted at the recent VII summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where they exchanged tokens.

The genesis of the border controversy goes back to the 1899 Arbitral Award, a landmark decision that delineated the boundary between British Guiana (now Guyana) and Venezuela.

Despite the historic arbitration, tensions have persisted, with Venezuela repeatedly challenging the validity of the award.
In 2018, Guyana took a decisive step by approaching the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking affirmation of the award’s legitimacy.

Venezuela initially claimed that the ICJ lacked jurisdiction, a contention flatly rejected by the World Court in a crucial ruling in December 2020. The door was thus opened for the ICJ to delve into the merits of the substantive case.