CELAC Summit: Guyana committed to dialogue with Venezuela on enhancing relationship– Pres. Ali
President Dr. Irfaan Ali reiterated Guyana’s commitment to peace and stability within the region and continued dialogue with its western neighbour, Venezuela to accelerate the relationship between the two resource-rich countries.
The Head of State was delivering his address at the VIII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of CELAC held in the Caribbean Island of St Vincent and the Grenadines Friday.
The Guyanese Leader sounded the country’s commitment in the presence of several Latin American and Caribbean leaders, including Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro.
In this vein, Guyana accepted the invitation of St Vincent’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, also President of the Pro Tempore Secretariat of CELAC, on dialogue with President Maduro in December last.
“I assured everyone at that time, and now, that I am prepared to speak with President Maduro on any aspect that may contribute to enhancing the relationship between our two countries,” President Ali firmly expressed in his remarks.
The summit was reminded that the Joint Declaration of Argyle on Dialogue and Peace acknowledges that Guyana is committed to the legal process of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the resolution of the decades-old border controversy.
President Ali underscored the country’s readiness to accept the court’s judgment on the matter and reiterated the stance of maintaining the Latin America and Caribbean region as a “zone of peace.”
“We want peace. We want prosperity for our neighbours and all in this region. We want to be our brother’s keeper with our neighbour,” he underlined.
Meanwhile, President Ali called out his Bolivian counterpart in his address for misinformed statements on Guyana’s air surveillance and sea exercises.
In definite terms, he clarified that the exercises conducted were merely part of a bilateral and regional security cooperation that had nothing to do with the controversy.
“Instead of drawing conclusions, States within the region must ascertain the facts. Statements that are not based on facts can only add destabilization […] It is also important to note that no mention was made about the incursions into Guyana’s territorial space,” the President asserted.
[Extracted and modified from the Department of Public Information]
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