Leaders of Venezuela and Guyana agree to avoid use of force in land dispute

The leaders of Venezuela and Guyana said Thursday that they would not use force against each other amid a dispute over an oil-rich piece of Guyanese land and agreed to create a joint commission to address the territorial spat.

The leaders of Venezuela and Guyana said Thursday that they would not use force against each other amid a dispute over an oil-rich piece of Guyanese land and agreed to create a joint commission to address the territorial spat. Still, the two countries’ positions on the Essequibo region remained vastly at odds after a day-long summit held on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with a joint declaration issued at its conclusion affirming both Guyana’s view that the dispute should be resolved by the International Court of Justice and Venezuela’s “lack of consent and lack of recognition of the International Court of Justice and its jurisdiction in the border controversy.” Tension over the land, which amounts to about two-thirds of Guyanese national territory, has mounted in recent days after a Venezuelan referendum in which voters assented to the creation of a Venezuelan state within the disputed region. Guyana has called the move a step towards annexation and an “existential” threat. In the joint declaration, both countries agreed to “not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances” and “refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict or disagreement arising from any controversy between them.” The joint commission will include each country’s foreign minister and technical staff “to address matters as mutually agreed” and should issue an update within three months, the declaration said. Both countries also agreed to meet again in Brazil in the following months “to consider any matter with implications for the territory in dispute.” Earlier Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali shook hands, video of the meeting showed, with the two men surrounded by advisers and officials from regional Caribbean blocs at the Argyle International Airport near the island’s capital Kingston.