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| Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma |
“The Commonwealth remains steadfast in its support for the Government and people of Guyana,” Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said over the weekend as he arrived in Guyana for meetings with the country’s leaders. [...]
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree on May 25, claiming sovereignty over Guyana’s territorial waters in the Essequibo region of the Atlantic Ocean, including a large part of the area where US oil giant ExxonMobil discovered oil a month ago.
Guyana has indicated it will fight Venezuela on its claim. All foreign ministers within Commonwealth have been kept informed of the development and Sharma has convened the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana, which is now scheduled to meet in New York in September.
The situation affecting Guyana has also been placed on the agenda of the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting, which is also taking place in New York in September. President David Granger said the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been notified of Guyana’s situation and leaders would be formally briefed on the situation at the 36th Heads of Government Conference in Barbados this week.
In addition, all the countries of the Organization of America States (OAS) and Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) have been notified.
Guyana has already indicated it will be going to the United Nations to reach a legal settlement, describing Venezuela’s claim of a portion of maritime space where oil was recently discovered as “a baseless and shameless attempt” at usurping Guyana’s territory.