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Saturday, October 12, 2013
Guyana's Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is set to meet her Venezuelan counterpart El'as Jaua this week to discuss the October 10 arrest of the RV Teknik Perdana by Venezuela. The US owned vessel was surveying the seafloor on Thursday when it was approached by a Venezuelan navy vessel and forced to sail to Margarita Island. At least five US citizens are on board.
According to a press statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Guyana, immediate contact was made with Venezuela.
"The Ministers agreed that dialogue was essential in an effort to find a peaceful solution
to this matter as well as in preserving the relations which had developed between the two
countries in recent years. In this regard, they agreed to meet in the coming week," the
Ministry stated.
Both governments insist that the vessel was operating in each other?s territory.
Guyana in an immediate statement warned Venezuelan authorities that their actions in the
disputed Essequibo region constituted "a serious threat to peace in the region".
On the otherhand, Venezuela said it legitimately detained the vessel for operating without
authorization in its waters. "We will jealously defend our country and our sovereignty,"
Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez said when asked about the incident at a news conference in Caracas Friday.
Just recently the two countries agreed on the reappointment of Professor Norman
Girvan as the United Nations Good Officer as they seek to settle the decades old border
controversy. |
