Venezuela and Guyana agree to renounce violence in dispute over oil-rich Essequibo
Maduro and Ali greeted each other with a handshake at their meeting. The Venezuelan president had described the meeting as an opportunity to "directly address the territorial controversy" and announced that his country would defend its rights.
Ali, on the other hand, stressed that Guyana was not the "aggressor" and did not want a "war", but reserved the right to "work with our allies to guarantee the defense of our country". The border dispute must also be resolved before the International Court of Justice.
At the beginning of December, more than 10.4 million of the 20.7 million Venezuelans entitled to vote took part in a non-binding referendum and, according to government figures, voted by a large majority in favor of Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo territory in Guyana. Shortly afterwards, Maduro called for the territory to be declared a Venezuelan province by law and for licenses to be issued for oil production.
Venezuela has claimed Essequibo for itself for more than a century. Around 125,000 of the 800,000 inhabitants of the former British and Dutch colony of Guyana live there. Caracas' desires increased after the oil company ExxonMobil discovered an oil deposit in the area in 2015. In October, another significant oil discovery was made in the region, increasing Guyana's reserves to more than those of oil-rich Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates.
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Source: www.stern.de
