LONDON (Reuters) – On Monday, a junior British foreign minister expressed his belief that Guyana’s territorial integrity should be respected as he paid a visit to the Commonwealth country following Venezuela’s renewal of its claim to the oil-rich Essequibo region.
Both Guyana and Venezuela agreed on Thursday to avoid using force and to not escalate tensions in their longstanding dispute over the 160,000-square-km (62,000-square-mile) region.
“I am in Guyana… to offer the UK’s unequivocal backing to our Guyanese friends,” said Britain’s minister for the Americas and Caribbean David Rutley in a statement prior to his meeting with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali for discussions.
“The border issue has been settled for more than 120 years… We welcome the recent agreement by Venezuela… to refrain from the use of force and any further escalation.”
While Essequibo is generally acknowledged as part of Guyana, Venezuela has recently revived its claim to the territory and to offshore areas following significant oil and gas discoveries.
Tensions heightened earlier this month after voters in a Venezuelan referendum supported a move to make the Esequibo area a new Venezuelan state and rejected the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is handling the case on the border dispute.
Rutley also intends to hold discussions with ambassadors from the United States, France, Canada, and the European Union regarding international support for the former British colony in the dispute.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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