St Vincent’s PM urges calm in Guyana-Venezuela territorial dispute
Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, fears the current territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela has the potential to develop into a serious crisis in the Caribbean region as he says there must be patience, wisdom and mature judgment.
Speaking during his Face-to-Face program, Gonsalves spoke on the event, describing it as a difficult issue. He notes that CARICOM historically has been supportive of the integrity of Guyana’s boundaries as defined in their own Constitution.
Prime Minister Gonsalves says CARICOM has supported the resolution of the dispute through the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has already ruled that it has jurisdiction over the matter. In January 2024, the matter should be heard.
However, Dr Gonsalves says it is unclear if Venezuela is going to appear before the court as on the preliminary issue about jurisdiction, Venezuela said the court does not have jurisdiction. The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines says waters have been muddied a little, and the Government of Venezuela has decided they would have a consultative referendum on the issue. Some of the questions posed to be answered in the referendum have created genuine difficulties.
Gonsalves says the Caribbean is a zone of peace, and people should have conversations; as he says, even if one side is not enthused about going to the ICJ, this is the mechanism to solve disputes.
The prime minister says he knows many persons will be calling on him to express a view on this current situation.
“We have to approach this thing with understanding, wisdom and knowledge against the background of existing international law and the Caribbean being a zone of peace.
We have to make sure we do things in a peaceful, non-hysterical manner, and we have a calm and patience.”
The prime minister says he understands in each country; passions are running high as it is difficult circumstances that are emerging.
0 Comment