Home Top Stories Guyana-Venezuela talks in Brazil: A good start to creating a future free...
By Devina Samaroo
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd led a high-level delegation to Brasilia, Brazil to advance talks with Venezuelan officials in continuation of the progress made one month ago by the Presidents of the two neighbouring nations, Dr Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro respectively.
The first meeting of the Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians of Guyana and Venezuela, created by the Argyle Declaration of December 14, 2023, was held on Thursday at Itamaraty Palace, and was observed by a number of officials, including those from the United Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
During the discussions, Guyana and Venezuela presented their agenda proposals for the work of the Joint Commission, which will be discussed at a later stage in a new meeting that could also be convened in Brazil.
Acknowledging their differences, they undertook to continue dialoguing on the basis of the parameters established by the Argyle Declaration.
Minister Todd, addressing a press conference in Brasilia following the meeting, described it as a “good start” to creating a better future of good neighbourliness for the next generations.
“We’re here in the interest of the people of Guyana and the people of Venezuela,” he reminded. Minister Todd explained that Guyanese and Venezuelans get along seamlessly at various levels, and so, too, must the nation states.
“…if we have Venezuelans and Guyanese who are getting along and finding common areas where they can collaborate, it should not escape us, as nation states, where we should be able to find common areas of mutual interest to advance good neighbourliness,” he affirmed.
And while making it clear that Guyana remains committed to resolving the border controversy before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Minister Todd noted that, in the meantime, through the Argyle Agreement, the two countries could work together.
“While we wait on the court… here is where the Argyle Agreement is integral: we can continue to work on areas of common interest…because the court will come and will pronounce, and we will still have to move on…This is a good start, because we were able to meet and dialogue, we were able to meet and exchange our views and ideas. We’re leaving here today with an understanding of where we are and where we need to be. We’re going back to headquarters, Georgetown, to continue working on advancing our neighbourly relations with our neighbour to the west…,” Todd remarked, as he acknowledged the support of the interlocutors of the process.
“We believe in a future for the next generation, who will not have to treat with controversies, but can move ahead with working on advancing what we would have initiated,” Minister Todd has said.
Mutual interest
During the dialogue, Guyana’s delegation presented to the Venezuelan team several areas in which the two countries can collaborate: such as on tackling transnational and organised crimes, pursuing economic cooperation, dealing with the effects of climate change, and addressing the migration situation.
Minister Todd also suggested that the two countries could discuss agreements already entered into between them on drugs, Jet A1 Fuel, and matters relating to food security. He also recommended that regional and hemispheric statements on peace and security could be a means of moving forward in the discussions.
Meanwhile, Guyana also made it clear to the Venezuelan delegation that it remains committed to resolving the border controversy in a peaceful manner through the World Court.
“…we’ve reiterated our support and commitment to the UN Charter, which includes the respect for international law, and the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which falls under the framework of international law,” Minister Todd informed the press conference.
A press statement issued late on Thursday night reaffirmed that “Guyana maintained that the settlement of this controversy was properly before the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement. Therefore, it must remain there until the Court gives its final ruling on the merits of the case, which will be fully respected by Guyana. Guyana will not undermine the judicial process or the Geneva Agreement by participating in any other means of settlement of the controversy as long as it is pending before the Court.”
Guyana’s delegation also included Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud; Permanent Secretary Ambassador Elisabeth Harper; Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Richard Van West-Charles; Director of the Frontiers Department, Donnette Streete; and Chargé d’Affaires of the Guyana Embassy in Brazil, Vernon Robinson.
The Venezuelan delegation, meanwhile, was headed by its Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
Necessary trust
Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, who served as the main interlocutor and facilitator of the day’s proceedings, expressed hope that Guyana and Venezuela would continue to build the “necessary trust to think about a common horizon in which the ties that correspond to good neighbours will contribute to the well-being of both peoples.”
Making his position known in a press statement following the meeting, the Brazilian Minister added, “Our region has the political will and all the necessary instruments to advance in its common project of fair social development in a peaceful and supportive environment. As we face the wars that are raging in different parts of the world, we have learned to value even more our Latin American and Caribbean culture of peaceful settlement of disputes, the basis of the community of interests that unites us, in a context free of geopolitical tensions of extra-regional origin.”
In addition to the Brazilian Minister, the talks were facilitated by Ambassador Gareth Bynoe of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the country holding the presidency of CELAC.
The meeting was also attended by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Miroslav Jenca, representing the Secretary-General of the United Nations as an observer.
Minister Vieira has since invited the regional and international communities to continue to support this dialogue process within the framework of the Argyle Agreement.
Argyle Agreement
Following the historic December 14, 2023 talks between Presidents Ali and Maduro in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the two Heads of State agreed to an 11-point Joint Declaration of Argyle.
In addition to the establishment of the Joint Commission of Foreign Ministers and Technicians, the two South American leaders also committed to themselves meeting again, this time in Brazil, to continue dialogue.
The two Presidents also agreed that any controversy between the two States would be resolved in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement dated February 17, 1966. The two countries have also committed to the pursuance of good neighbourliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean.
It was also agreed that both States would refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any controversy.
Importantly, the following was “noted” in the joint declaration: “Guyana’s assertion that it is committed to the process and procedures of the International Court of Justice for the resolution of the border controversy”, and “Venezuela’s assertion of its lack of consent and lack of recognition of the International Court of Justice and its jurisdiction in the border controversy.”
Historic meeting
The historic face-to-face meeting of the Guyanese and Venezuelan leaders came on the heels of concerns by regional leaders after the Maduro Government held a referendum on December 3, 2023 with the aim of annexing Guyana’s Essequibo region – two-thirds of the country’s territory.
Following the referendum, President Maduro subsequently announced a series of actions including, among other things, issuing identification cards to Guyanese living in the Essequibo and issuing licences for mining and other activities in Guyana’s Essequibo county. Given Venezuela’s threatening posture, the Caricom/ CELAC/ Brazil-brokered meeting was held last month between the two Presidents in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and was geared towards maintaining peace in the region.
The talks were led by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent in his role as President Pro Tempore of CELAC, and were supported by the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also played a key role in organising the meeting.
After more than eight hours of engagements at the Argyle International Airport, Presidents Ali and Maduro came to several agreements, including that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, would not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstance, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States.
Controversy
Venezuela maintains that the border with Guyana, a former colony of The Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK), was fraudulently imposed by the British, which it has denounced as a “land grabber”. Guyana, on the other hand, maintains that the line was determined on October 3, 1899 by an arbitration panel (Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899).
The Anglo-Venezuelan Arbitral Tribunal met in Paris, France, and on October 3, 1899 — 122 years ago — gave its award, defining the border between Venezuela and then-British Guiana.
After abiding by the 1899 Arbitral Award for over half a century, Venezuela, in 1962, claimed the Essequibo area of Guyana belonged inside its borders. The debate heated up after ExxonMobil found oil in Guyana in 2015, and has intensified in recent months, with Venezuela holding a referendum on December 3 in which it was voted to purportedly annex the Essequibo. However, the country’s Opposition has since reported that 89 per cent of eligible voters did not vote.
Nevertheless, following the referendum, Maduro claimed that, among other things, he would now authorise oil exploration in Guyana’s Essequibo.
Maduro also claimed that he has announced, for the population of Guyana’s Essequibo, the activation of a human and social care plan that includes censuses and identity cards.
He also claimed to have announced the creation of the “High Commission for the Defense for Guyana’s Essequibo region”; and the creation of the Comprehensive Defense Zone for Guyana’s territory.
The Venezuelan President also announced that in addition to oil, he would be issuing licences for mining and other activities to be conducted in Guyana’s Essequibo county.
The Maduro regime has been untruthfully claiming that Venezuela demonstrated that the award issued in 1899 by the Paris Arbitration Court was “null and void”, and that the controversy under the Geneva Agreement must be amicably resolved in a manner that is acceptable to both parties, while ignoring that such discussions had failed for over 30 years, and that the Geneva Agreement provided for the Secretary General of the United Nations to choose another path for the settlement of the controversy, if not settled by discussion between the two countries.
Maduro also ignores that the UN Secretary General, in accordance with the Agreement, had on January 30, 2018 advised both Venezuela and Guyana that “having carefully analysed the developments in the good offices process during the course of 2017” and “significant progress not having been made toward arriving at a full agreement for the solution of the controversy”, he had “chosen the International Court of Justice as the means now to be used for its solution”.
Within the framework of the 1966 Geneva Agreement between the two countries, the Secretary General conducted Good Offices processes from 1990 to 2017 to find a solution to the border controversy. On January 30, 2018, Secretary General António Guterres, following a careful analysis of developments in 2017, chose the ICJ as the means to be used for the solution of the controversy.
As a consequence, Guyana, on March 29, 2018, filed its application to the World Court. In the substantive case, Guyana seeks, among other things, to obtain from the ICJ a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award which established the land boundary between then-British Guiana and Venezuela remains valid and binding; and a declaration that Essequibo belongs to Guyana.
