“We don’t take lightly any threats to our sovereignty” – Pres Ali on Venezuela

…acting Venezuelan President seen wearing brooch with Guyana’s Essequibo during Grenada visit

President Dr Irfaan Ali has reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to upholding its sovereignty and territorial integrity against threats, especially from neighbouring Venezuela. “We don’t take lightly any threats to the sovereignty of Guyana,” the Guyanese leader told reporters on the side-lines of an event in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Friday. His remarks come on the heels of acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez wearing a brooch of her country’s map that included Guyana’s Essequibo region during a recent state visit to Grenada. This had sparked widespread public outrage, especially among Guyanese stakeholders, who dubbed the action as the latest act of aggression from the Spanish-speaking nation.
Efforts over the past few days to reach out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Georgetown on whether any formal objection was or would be taken by Guyana in light of this recent development have been futile. The recent visit to Grenada, with whom Guyana shares close bilateral ties and are both member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has long been supportive of Guyana’s borders and had in the past condemned Venezuela’s aggressive tactics, was Rodríguez’s first official overseas trip since assuming office after the ousting of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. She told reporters that she opted to travel to St George’s because “…we have relations with Grenada… It’s a neighbour, very close to us.”
However, while in the Twin Island Republic to attend the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Annual Business Meeting Outlook 2026/2027, President Ali was asked on Friday by a Trinidadian reporter whether he would meet with the new Venezuelan leader in light of Caracas’ spurious claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass, the entire Essequibo region.

“You can’t ‘take back’ what is not yours”
In response, the Guyanese Head of State declared firstly that, “…You can’t ‘take back’ what is not yours. Essequibo is Guyana’s”, adding that the border between the two South American nations was long settled in the 1899 Arbitral Award. President Ali explained that as a responsible national and regional leader, he is willing to work with any leader that shares the same values as Guyana.
“I am open to meeting any leader globally, any leader in this region, as a responsible leader. We know that the development of our countries [and] the development of our people are integrated, and we stand firmly on the side of democracy and the rule of law,” he asserted.

Thanked T&T for support
The Guyanese leader went on to use the opportunity to publicly thank the Prime Minister (PM) of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, for “her very strong words and her decisive position on Guyana and on our sovereignty [and] our territorial integrity. We value that deeply. We value our friendship with Trinidad and Tobago. We see Trinidad as a brotherly and sisterly country and part of that community; we value that greatly.” President Ali subsequently relayed these sentiments in person to the Trinidadian PM during a formal meeting on Friday afternoon in Port of Spain during which they discussed key areas of bilateral cooperation and agreed on a development, trade and economic agenda aimed at deepening ties and advancing greater integration between both countries.
Meanwhile, this latest act of aggression from Caracas comes as the border controversy case is pending before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Back in 2018, Guyana approached the court, seeking a final and binding settlement of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which demarcates the boundaries between the two nations.
The case is fixed for oral arguments on the merits in May, after which the World Court would deliberate on its decision. But in furtherance of its spurious claims to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass – the entire Essequibo region and a portion of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where over 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) have been found and production as well as other exploration activities are currently being undertaken offshore – Venezuela has been heightening its aggressive tactics towards Guyana over the years. Just over a year ago on March 1, 2025, there was an incursion into Guyana’s waters by Venezuelan naval vessels which threatened several oil vessels operating there, something which was widely condemned by the international community, including the United States.
However, there was a belief that the January 3 capture of Maduro and his wife in Caracas by US troops to face criminal indictments in New York would have seen an ease in aggression from the Spanish-speaking neighbour. But just last month, Guyana had to reaffirm the country’s sovereignty over its maritime jurisdiction, telling Caracas that it has no legal rights to the waters off of Guyana’s coast.
This was after Venezuela had raised objections to a decision made by the Guyana government to advance a three-dimensional multi-client seismic exploration to gather data from a 25,000 square kilometre offshore area within Guyana’s EEZ.