‘I did not know Venezuelan map included Essequiɓo’- St Vincent PM tells Guyana, Venezuela Presidents

Last Updated on Thursday, 4 January 2024, 14:53 by Denis Chabrol

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Thursday said he did not know that a paper-based object that had been placed before him by an official of the Venezuelan Embassy had depicted a Venezuelan map with Guyana’s Essequibo Region.

“While the photographs were being taken, I am advised that someone attached to the Venezuelan Embassy placed the “papier-mache”depiction of the said map in front of us. I did not look at what the depiction was,” he said in a January 4 letter to the President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro.

Dr Gonsalves also told the leaders of the neighbouring South American nations that he did not recall “ever seeing this photograph” before its current circulation. He said he was told that photographs were being taken in front of flags of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela and a bust of  Simon Bolivar at Villa, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the grounds of the residence/ office of Venezuela’s Charge d’Affaires.

The letter surfaced on Wednesday on a pro-Venezuelan social media platform.

Mr Gonsalves, as Pro-Tempore President of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC), Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva and the Chairman of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM), were instrumental in brokering talks between Presidents Ali and Maduro on December 14 in St Vincent and the declaration of a peace pact.

Even after his Pro-Tempore Presidency comes to an end, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister would continue as an interlocutor.

Guyana’s Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton on Thursday criticised Dr Gonsalves for appearing in that picture with a Venezuelan map that includes the Essequibo Region.

Following is the full text of the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ letter to President Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Mr Maduro.

The Prime Minister
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
West Indies

January 4, 2024

Your Excellencies

President Irfaan Ali of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana

and

President Nicolas Maduro of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

My Dear Irfaan and Nicolas,

Solidarity greetings to your respective governments and peoples from the governmentand people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I wish for all of our peoples in Latin America, the Caribbean, and indeed the world, a peaceful, secure, just, and prosperous 2024.

It has been drawn to my attention that a photograph, taken in December 2022, in which 1 appeared with other persons ostensibly showing a “papier-mâché” depiction of a map of Venezuela which, controversially, includes the Essequibo or part of it, has surfaced/resurfaced on social media.

I have been advised that the event at which this photograph was taken was one
commemorating the life and work of the great Liberator, Simon Bolivar; the place was at Villa, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the grounds of the residence/ office of the Charge d’Affaires of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

I do not recall ever seeing this photograph before its current circulation. I am informed that photographs were being taken in front of flags of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela and a bust of Bolivar. While the photographs were being taken, I am advised that someone attached to the Venezuelan Embassy placed the “papier-mâché”depiction of the said map in front of us. | did not look at what the depiction was. I assumed that it was about Simon Bolivar.

It is unfortunate that this innocent inadvertence on my part has been used by some to drum up, unnecessarily, antipathy of one kind or another. I understand all the
emotions attendant on this controversial issue; and from time-to-time there will be flare-ups. As always, though, we as leaders must maintain a patience and a calm knowing that sun brightens stone, even as the river burns. And there is “The Joint Declaration at Argyle for Dialogue and Peace Between Guyana and Venezuela’ for all of us, especially both of you, to apply and build upon.

I have spoken to my friends Irfaan and Bharat (Vice President Jagdeo) about this matter of the “papier-mâché” depiction; hopefully it has been laid to rest, where it ought properly to reside among the assorted ghosts from the past, which ought never to rule us from the grave.

Meanwhile, I am profoundly encouraged by the letter dated January 2, 2024 from the
President of Guyana to the President of Venezuela in respect of arranging the first
meeting of “The Joint Commission” in Brasilia to advance further the Argyle
Declaration and its purposes.

All the best to each of you, your families, government and peoples.

Sincerely yours,

Dr, The Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves
Prime Minister