BRASILIA.- The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will send his main advisor on international affairs to the meeting between the dictatorship of Venezuela y Guyana to address tensions over the Essequibo territorial dispute that has increased in recent days.
The prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the meeting will take place, had invited President Lula, at the request of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and the leader of Guyana, Irfaan Ali.
On the other hand, Celso Amorim, former foreign minister and special advisor to the presidency of Brazil, will travel to that territory to join the meeting between Maduro and Ali, confirmed the communication secretariat of the Planalto presidential palace.
The press office did not provide further details about Amorim’s trip, nor did it explain why Lula will not attend.
The meeting on the Caribbean island is promoted by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The two countries have been fighting for more than a century over Essequibo, an oil-rich region administered by Guyana.
But tensions have grown since the Maduro regime held a controversial referendum on December 3, in which (according to figures from the dictatorship) 95% of voters supported declaring the region another province of Venezuela and granting Venezuelan nationality. to its inhabitants, according to official results.
Countries in South America, as well as Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States called in recent days for detente and a peaceful solution.
Last week, Brazil reinforced the military presence in the state of Roraima, bordering Guyana and Venezuela, in the north of the country.
According to experts, Roraima would be Venezuela’s obligatory step in an eventual land incursion into Essequibo.
“We cannot allow one country to attack another using our territory,” Brazilian Defense Minister José Mucio told reporters on Monday about the reason for the reinforcement.
“But we are absolutely sure that this will be resolved at the best battle table that exists, a negotiation table,” he added.
On Saturday, Lula urged Maduro by telephone not to take “unilateral measures” that would intensify the dispute, and conveyed to him the “growing concern” of South American countries about the situation.
Source: AFP
