MERCOSUR to host August meeting on Venezuela border claims

Jul 18, 2015 News

– Maduro said President Granger not ruling Guyana
Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, announced that a regional bloc has agreed for a special meeting in August to discuss his country’s claims on Guyana’s land and maritime space.

President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro

According to Venezuela’s online news, El Universal, Maduro said that while no specific date has been set, he welcomes the initiative of Mercosur to advance peace initiatives in the region.
MERCOSUR is a sub-regional bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Its associate countries are Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
President David Granger was in Brazil over the last few days with the simmering issue expected to dominate talks.
Stressing that the claims which have become more strident by Venezuela in recent months following the discovery of oil in waters off Guyana, Maduro repeated contentions the problem with Guyana is a historical one. The British Empire plundered his country in the nineteenth century.
Maduro also noted the outstanding appointment of the independent Good Officer by the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon. “The Secretary-General of the UN has yet to name the Good Officer. I am glad that MERCOSUR is taking an initiative to channel the conflict through international law also because we have great capacity for that meeting…”
After the MERCOSUR summit in Brazil, Maduro also repeated his displeasure at President Granger, describing him as a “great provocateur”.
“I think the only mission by Guyana is to provoke a major conflict with Venezuela.”
He added that Granger “is not ruling Guyana. Right now there are major floods in Guyana and he walks the world against Venezuela. I feel sorry for the people of Guyana who are our brothers.”
Maduro said that he instructed humanitarian aid to assist the population of Guyana affected by floods.
He warned Granger to stop being an agent of US-owned ExxonMobil which has found oil offshore Guyana and instead take time to realize the importance of UNASUR and MERCOSUR, both which are regional bodies.
He pointed out that Venezuela is the country Guyana has helped over the past 10 years of its history, according to the El Universal report.