Former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister David Cameron has called for concrete Venezuela action after last week’s historic summit.
The Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela, Dr. Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro, and Caribbean Community (CARIOM) leaders were at the gathering.
Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, also attended.
The summit occurred amid tensions between Guyana and Venezuela regarding a controversy over the former’s resource-rich Essequibo region.
The region comprises over two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
A joint statement from the Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines summit declared, among other things, that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, would not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances.
Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron took to social media on Friday to welcome the statement, contained in ‘The Joint Declaration of Argyle for Dialogue and Peace between Guyana and Venezuela.’
“The statement by Venezuela in St Vincent that it will refrain from the use of force and any further escalation is welcome. And it must be followed by concrete actions,” Cameron, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, observed on X (formerly Twitter).
He said the UK supports efforts by Vincentian Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves to promote peace in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Gonsalves, head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva helped arrange the Guyana-Venezuela talks.
“Sovereign borders must be respected. The UK will continue to work with our partners in the region and internationally to ensure respect for Guyana’s sovereignty,” Cameron asserted.
In addition, he revealed that Americas Minister David Rutley would visit Guyana ‘in the coming days’ to further show support for the Guyanese people ‘on this vital issue.’
The summit in St. Vincent will not end this dispute. Guyana must build it’s military capacity to adequately defend itself against Venezuela.
Firstly, Britain should apologize; must apologize for the problems they have caused in the Americas and the rest of the globe. I am Guyanese by birth, respect my heritage, but the lands stolen by Britain and given to us through independence is still stolen lands. If you steal lands and give it to your children , it is still stolen property. Apologize first, then we can have a conversation
Reparations first, then potential discourse. Leading countries were developed by stolen labour, even yet, the countries from whom labour were stolen remain under-developed, malnourished and still highly dependent on others for survival. We, the peoples of the caribbean, can resolve our issues by ourselves……..no need for the intervention by foreign governments. They sow discord and create chaos everywhere they go.
Alright repatriation will never happen for Caribbean slave trade throw that motion out the window. These are just surface talks. Agreed Guyana should sell it’s oil in exchange for Military Machines, again a horrible negotiation by the Jagdeo Gov. If ExxonMobil want X amount of years to harvest my resource I must get X amount of Military Machines, if my invoice is X I will pay X in oil. Shame that country still poor. Educated people but stupidly wise.
I hope the West makes them another Ukraine and steals all their resources. David Cameron speaks on behalf of his friend’s interests, not because they care about the lives of Caribbean people in the event of a conflict.