Dr. Gonsalves engages Maduro amid Guyana-Venezuela tensions

Interlocutor in the peace accord on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, met today with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to address “the rising tension” between the two nations.
A release from St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Agency for Public Information stated that Dr. Gonsalves departed for Venezuela on Monday.
It was noted that the Vincentian Prime Minister had already spoken with Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Monday, “urging calm and restraint and for both parties to return to diplomacy.”
He reminded both parties of the Argyle Declaration, which they signed in December 2023, committing to maintaining peace as the border controversy remains before the International Court of Justice.
“Dr. Gonsalves also cautioned that an escalation into open conflict could devastate both nations economically and socially, and destabilise the entire Latin American and Caribbean region, potentially leaving us with a humanitarian and refugee crisis,” the Prime Minister warned.
He advised that both nations resolve their issues in ways that do not lead to open conflict.
PM Gonsalves’ visit to Venezuela comes a week after the Bolivarian Republic intruded into Guyana’s exclusive maritime zone.
A Venezuelan military patrol ship engaged oil and gas assets operated by ExxonMobil on March 1, falsely claiming that the FPSOs were illegally working in Venezuelan territory.
Reacting to the incursion, Dr. Gonsalves had said that the FPSO platforms were “undoubtedly under Guyana’s jurisdiction.”
Venezuela’s intrusion into Guyana’s maritime space was widely condemned.