After arriving in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he hopes to make the most of his meeting with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.
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The Bolivarian leader celebrated that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Government of Brazil have promoted this meeting, which hopes to "make the most of it so that the Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be an area of peace."
"I come with the Venezuelan people's mandate and with words of dialogue and peace, but to defend our people and country's rights," Maduro said and explained the purpose of this first conversation with Ali.
"It is to seek, through dialogue and negotiation, effective, satisfactory, and practical solutions, as mandated by the Geneva Agreement," the Bolivarian leader said, referring to the 1966 international legal document that Venezuela recognizes as the only legitimate instrument to resolve the Essequibo dispute.
The meeting, which seeks to curb geopolitical tensions, was proposed by several countries, especially by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who sent Celso Amorin as his representative.
Despite the intentions of the mediators to seek an agreement, President Guyana Ali previously stated that the St. Vincent meeting will allow tensions to be lowered but will not negotiate on the land border.
One day before the high-level reunion, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved the new budget of the Venezuelan state incorporating financing for social, economic, educational and military projects in the state of Guayana Esequiba.
“We approved in the first discussion the 2024 Nation budget, which includes for the first time the defense of Guayana Esequiba and the continuity of policies for the protection of our people with more than 77 percent of the resources allocated to social investment,” National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said.