U.S. Secretary of State thanks Brazil for role in Guyana-Venezuela peace talks

Dec 28, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – During a recent conversation with Brazilian Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken expressed his gratitude for the diplomatic leadership displayed by Brazil in peace talks between Guyana and Venezuela.

Those peace talks were held at Argyle International Airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ on December 13, 2023. The discussion aimed at getting Venezuela to scale back its aggressive efforts to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region even as a case on the border controversy between the two is before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken

According to Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Matthew Miller, Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the United States’ position that the land boundary between Venezuela and Guyana should be respected unless—or until—the parties reach a new agreement—or a competent legal body decides otherwise.

Following the talks that were held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the presence of key CARICOM Heads of State and members of the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC), both Guyana and Venezuela agreed to a number of measures, including the pursuit of good neighborliness, peaceful coexistence, and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean.

They also agreed to refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any controversy between them. Both nations also agreed to cooperate to avoid incidents on the ground conducive to tension between them. In the event of such an incident, the two States will immediately communicate with one another, the Caribbean Community, the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the President of Brazil to contain, reverse and prevent its recurrence.

Brazilian Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira

Another critical development was that both nations agreed to establish immediately, a joint commission of the Foreign Ministers and technical persons from the two States to address matters as mutually agreed. Kaieteur News understands that an update from this joint commission will be submitted to the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela within three months.

Additionally, both States agreed that Prime Minister Ralph E. Gonsalves, the Pro-Tempore President of CELAC, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, the incumbent CARICOM Chairman, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil will remain seized of the matter as Interlocutors and the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres as Observer, with the ongoing concurrence of Presidents Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro. For the avoidance of doubt, Prime Minister Gonsalves’ role will continue even after Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ceases to be the Pro-Tempore President of CELAC, within the framework of the CELAC Troika plus one; and Prime Minister Skerrit’s role will continue as a member of the CARICOM Bureau.

Finally, both Guyana and Venezuela agreed to meet again in Brazil, within the next three months, or at another agreed time, to consider any matter with implications for the territory in dispute, including the above-mentioned update of the joint commission.

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Antony J. Blinken, Brazilian Foreign Minister, CARICOM, Mauro Vieira, U.S. Secretary of State

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