What Venezuela and Guyana Agreed Upon Regarding the Resolution of a Long-standing Territorial Dispute

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Guyanese leader Irfaan Ali made a joint statement on December 14 at a summit held in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The two countries agreed, in particular, to "under no circumstances threaten or use force against each other" and to "refrain from escalating the conflict," according to CNN.

Maduro and Ali also agreed to establish a commission at the level of foreign ministers for cooperation on the Essequibo issue and to meet again in the coming three months. However, as CNN points out, the positions of Venezuela and Guyana regarding the Essequibo region remain sharply divergent. Guyana believes that the territorial conflict should be resolved by the International Court of Justice, while Venezuela does not recognize its jurisdiction in this dispute.

It is noteworthy that high-level negotiations between Venezuela and Guyana on the resolution of the longstanding territorial dispute began yesterday in Kingstown.