Celac silenced the drums of war that the US wanted to sound between Guyana and Venezuela

KAREN MENDEZ

Until December 9, the escalation of tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo (territory that is being claimed) made more than one think that the possibility of an armed confrontation between both countries could become a tragic reality at any moment.

The president of Guyana, Irfaan Alí, maintained his position of not engaging in dialogue with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, and insisted on the possibility of using the military force of the United States and the United Kingdom against Venezuela. He even revealed in an interview with an international media that he was contemplating the possibility of installing a US military base on his territory.

Venezuela, after a consultative referendum in which a large part of the population supported Maduro's efforts on this matter, gave a period of 3 months to the companies that exploit oil in Essequibo to leave that territory. The Venezuelan president warned that companies that failed to comply would not have contracts with the Venezuelan State and gave the order to the Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA) to start bidding for oil and gas blocks in Essequibo, just as Guyana has been doing illegally. since 2015 when the American transnational discovered important oil deposits in that area.

And, in the midst of all this tension, the United States dedicated itself to carrying out military maneuvers in Guyana, an action that adds to the long list of armed exercises that Washington has carried out from that country and targeting Venezuela since 2016.

All of this has worried and alarmed the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, made it clear that “if there is one thing that is not wanted in South America, it is war.” The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, pointed out that “the greatest misfortune” for this continent is that “a war between peoples breaks out” and warned that foreign powers are seeking to “reproduce the NATO/Russia conflict on our own lands.” For this reason, both leaders asked the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States to direct this matter towards diplomatic and peaceful means.

So on December 9, Celac and Caricom (Caribbean Community) called a meeting between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela for December 14 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the country that has the pro tempore presidency of Celac.

For Venezuela, this simple fact was a triumph because President Maduro has been asking Irfaan Ali to meet face to face for several months and on several occasions asked the Caricom leaders to facilitate this meeting, an invitation that the Guyanese president rejected on several occasions. It was also considered a first triumph because it would be discussed between Latin American and Caribbean brothers without the interference of foreign powers.

Why the meeting?

The main objective of the meeting was to lower tensions to avoid an armed confrontation that would drag down the entire continent, a region that since 2014 was declared a zone of peace.

The meeting was attended as facilitators by the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves; the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit and the special advisor to President Lula, Celso Amorín, and two representatives of the UN Secretary General attended as observers. The Foreign Minister of Colombia, Álvaro Leyva, and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Gerardo Torres Zelaya, also participated.

The day began with two separate meetings, one with the president of Guyana and the other with the president of Venezuela. Then came the long-awaited meeting between Maduro and Irfaan Ali. Sources close to both governments say that the atmosphere was a bit tense at first, but as soon as President Maduro jokingly said to Irfaan Ali, “Aren’t you going to shake my hand?” and they greeted each other, the tension eased.

The first to speak was Irfaan Ali. He did it for almost an hour. President Maduro listened attentively while he took notes. Irfaan Ali claimed that Venezuela wanted to invade his country, that they had the right to give oil concessions to any company they wanted and that the matter should be resolved in the International Court of Justice.

Then it was Maduro's turn. The president explained that Venezuela does not want even a millimeter of Guyanese territory, that Venezuela's plans have never violated the sovereignty of that country or any other, and that Venezuela's claim is for the Essequibo, a territory that Venezuela has never renounced and has been in claim with Guyana since 1966, but since about 1850 with the United Kingdom when the British had not yet ceded independence to the Guyanese.

From the several bulky folders that Maduro placed on the table, the Venezuelan president took out one by one all the documents and maps that prove that Essequibo has legally and historically belonged to Venezuela. He explained to those present that the Arbitration Award of 1899 - which today Guyana, the US and the United Kingdom are trying to revive to say that the Essequibo belongs to Guyana and that Exxon legally exploits that territory - is the result of a judicial compromise between the US and United Kingdom that took place in 1899 in Paris and with which they attempted to strip Venezuela of that rich and immense territory of almost 160 thousand square kilometers.

In addition, Maduro read point by point what is established by the 1966 Geneva Agreement, the only legal mechanism in force within international law to resolve this controversy. He also detailed the environmental damage, the ecocide that ExxonMobil could cause to all Caribbean countries with offshore drilling in a sea, which, by the way, has yet to be delimited with Venezuela.

The Venezuelan president also explained that it is absurd to propose that the case should be resolved in the International Court of Justice because Venezuela does not recognize the jurisdiction of that court, not now, but always, since it was created in 1945. Maduro reminded the present that, just as Venezuela does not recognize the ICJ, neither do Brazil, Guyana, the United States. There are 119 countries in the world, 61% of the UN member countries, that do not recognize the mandatory jurisdiction of the ICJ. So why force Venezuela to break a historical doctrine of its country if none of those who ask it to do so recognize that court?

Finally, Maduro also warned Irfaan Ali that giving space to the Southern Command, as the last two Guyanese governments have been doing since 2016, is "opening the door to the devil."

The meeting served so that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean could learn more closely and in detail about Venezuela's position, so distorted and demonized by media corporations and spokespersons for governments hostile to the Bolivarian country. Also so that everyone could conclude that the 1966 Geneva Agreement has not been exhausted and continues to be the way to resolve this controversy.

The parallel dialogue

While they talked behind closed doors, we journalists waited with great anxiety and expectation for what could come out of that meeting. Although we spent almost 12 hours sharing the same place with Guyanese journalists, we did not exchange a single word with them, until almost until the end of the coverage. The tension of the last few weeks was so great that we looked at each other with suspicion. But the wait became so long that at one point we decided to break the ice.

-How do you see all this from Guyana? I asked Ruel Johnson, Guyanese writer and journalist.

-“With fear” he replied. “With fear that Venezuela will attack us.”

-But we are not going to attack them. That has never been considered, I refuted him.

-«So why don't you agree to go to the International Court of Justice?» Ruel replies.

And another Guyanese journalist comes out from behind and says, “because they are afraid.”

-And I tell you: have they explained to you that Venezuela has never recognized that court and that you do not recognize it either?

Ruel and the other Guyanese journalist remain silent.

-And haven't they explained the Exxon contract to you, which is totally unfavorable for you and that they only give you 2% royalties? I added.

-“No. Exxon is an opportunity for us,” Ruel insists.

And so we continue debating until he asks me, what if it's not the ICJ, then what is the solution?

-And I tell you: the Geneva Agreement, dialogue and dialogue until we reach a solution favorable to both of us.

-Do you want peace? I ask him. Ruel answers without hesitation, "Of course."

-Us too, I tell him. Then let's talk.

And then Jessica Sosa, a well-known Venezuelan journalist who comes from the San Agustín neighborhood, known for being the birthplace of salsa in Venezuela, enters the conversation and says: "So let's solve this by dancing." And then we started laughing, we shook hands, and just then Celso Amorín, Ralph Goncalves and the other delegates started to come out to read the final declaration of the meeting.

They read an eleven-point document that states, among other things:

1. Guyana and Venezuela agree that they will not threaten each other, directly or indirectly, or use force under any circumstances.
2. That any dispute between the two States will be resolved in accordance with international law and the Geneva Agreement of 1966.
3. Who are committed to the search for good neighborliness, peaceful coexistence and the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean.
4. That they agree to continue dialogue on any pending matter of mutual importance to the two countries.
5. That both parties refrain, whether in word or deed, from escalating the conflict and that they will cooperate to avoid incidents that lead to tensions between them and that, in the event of any incident, both parties will immediately communicate with Caricom and Celac to contain it, reverse it and prevent it from recurring.

When they finished, Ruel comes up to me and says:

-«What did you think? Were you happy?»

-I say yes and ask him: and you, were you happy?'

-«Yes, I was also happy.»

And of course, how could we not be happy? Peace won, at least for now, the commitment to dialogue won, Latin America and the Caribbean won, our people won, and today they can sleep in peace and hug their families without the fear of being overwhelmed by a war that they tried to impose. from outside.

Karen Mendez is a Venezuelan journalist.