The presidents of Guyana and Venezuela have expressed widely differing views about the purpose of their meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines Thursday amid rising tension over Caracas's claim to Guyana's resource-rich Essequibo province.
In a letter to the meeting's host, St Vincent prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro said he welcomed the opportunity to meet Guyana president Irfaan Ali "...with the hope that it becomes at a starting point towards the return of direct negotiations."
But Ali rejected direct negotiations with Maduro to resolve the dispute, telling Gonsalves the meeting is to "de-escalate the conflict," and that the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to rule over the disputed matters.
Essequibo — which Venezuela calls Guayana Esequiba — makes up the western two-thirds of Guyana. Long running tension between the countries has prevented them from agreeing to a maritime border.
The dispute flared anew in October after Guyana awarded offshore exploration permits to several prospectors in the Stabroek block offshore Essequibo that partially overlaps the disputed waters. Venezuela started to move more troops to the border region and held a nationwide vote earlier this month that Maduro claims affirms Venezuela's rights to the province.
The ICJ says it will determine the merits of the case, but Maduro has rejected that ruling, saying the ICJ role "is violative of the principle of mutual consent already agreed upon between the parties."
In a statement Gonsalves said the purpose of the meeting is for the two leaders to have "respectful" dialogue.
"Many things need to be addressed and the matter of the commitment to international law, the commitment to maintaining the region as a zone of peace and not to go to open conflict are all of great importance," Gonsalves said.
