(CNN) — Venezuela has accepted a proposal to hold a high-level meeting with Guyana over the status of the disputed and oil-rich Essequibo region, Caracas said on Saturday.
“Venezuela expresses its satisfaction and accepts the call to meet with approval and commitment,” read the statement published by Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry, which also noted that the meeting will be announced in the “next coming days.”
Guyana’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following a nationwide referendum last week, the Venezuelan government has said it would move forward with plans to annex the densely-forested Essequibo region, which makes up about two-thirds of neighboring Guyana’s territory.
Venezuela has long insisted that it has a historical claim to the region, which Guyana rejects. Current borders were set in a 1899 ruling by international arbitrators.
Speaking to CNN’s Isa Soares earlier this week, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said his country is taking every precautionary measure at the diplomatic level to engage international allies “against Venezuela’s desperate attempt to seize its territory.”
The proposal for a meeting between the two governments came amid a flurry of phone calls involving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, according to the Venezuelan statement.
According to Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry, Maduro also spoke to UN Secretary General António Guterres about the matter. The UN chief has “committed to promote efforts in favor of direct dialogue between the parties,” it said.
Guterres has warned that the stand-off over Essequibo should be settled through “solely peaceful means,” and urged both countries to work with the International Court of Justice. Rosemary Di Carlo, UN undersecretary for peacebuilding and political affairs, briefed the powerful Security Council about the situation on December 8.
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, ruled last month that “Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute.” The court has been reviewing the territorial dispute since 2018 and will hold a trial in the spring, following decades of failed negotiations between the two countries through the UN. However, Venezuela does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction on the issue.
Venezuela’s foreign ministry said the expected meeting will take place “without interference from external actors, in accordance with what was agreed upon by both countries within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” – a regional group currently led by St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Venezuela says it will hold high-level meeting with Guyana over annexation plans”
