Essequibo, an oil-rich territory under Guyanese administration and claimed by Caracas, raises fears of conflict in the region. On Thursday January 25, Venezuela called on Guyana to reject any external “interference”.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil and his Guyanese counterpart Hugh Hilton Todd met Thursday in the Brazilian capital Brasilia to discuss this dispute.

A summit in December in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines between Venezuelan Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Guyanese Irfaan Ali lowered the temperature, with both parties ruling out any "use of force". But tension then rose again with the arrival of a British warship in Guyanese waters and military exercises organized by Venezuela in response.

At the end of Thursday's meeting, the Venezuelan minister urged Guyana to "absolutely reject the possibility that third parties interfere or can benefit" from this conflict.

He also underlined the importance of drawing "a road map" to resolve the territorial dispute through diplomatic channels, calling on his neighbor to "reaffirm that neither party will resort to threats or invoke the use of strength". It was “a very frank, very open discussion,” added Yvan Gil.

For his part, the Guyanese minister affirmed that his country remains "committed to resolving the controversy (...) in a very peaceful manner." Hugh Hilton Todd, however, reiterated his country's position: for Guyana, it is up to the International Court of Justice to decide the dispute. However, Caracas does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ.

The meeting, attended by the head of Brazilian diplomacy Mauro Vieira, allowed both parties to express "their differences, the main one being that Guyana wants a solution via the International Court of Justice, which Venezuela does not recognize" , a source at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summarized to AFP.

Brazil, which has common borders with the two countries, poses as mediator of the crisis, under the leadership of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Caracas and Georgetown stick to their position

The long-standing dispute between Caracas and Georgetown resurfaced after the launch of oil tenders by Guyana in September 2023, then the referendum organized in response on December 3 in Venezuela on the attachment of the Essequibo.

Also read: Is Venezuela preparing to take over part of Guyana?

Since then, the two countries have stuck to their positions. On the one hand, Georgetown repeats that it is sovereign over “the entirety” of its territory and that everything must go through the ICJ in The Hague. Guyana argues that the border, dating from the English colonial era, was ratified in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris.

On the other hand, Caracas continues to chant the slogan "The sun of Venezuela rises on the Essequibo" and demands negotiations outside the ICJ.

Caracas believes that the Geneva agreement signed in 1966 – before Guyana's independence – lays the foundation for a negotiated settlement that must continue and maintains that the Essequibo River should be the natural border, as it was in 1777 at the time of the Spanish Empire.

A territory of 160,000 km2 rich in oil and natural resources, Essequibo is home to some 125,000 people, or a fifth of Guyana's population, and represents two-thirds of the country's surface area.

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application