NEW YORK, Sep 28 2015 – President David Granger met with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro for the first time since his election earlier this year to discuss the border dispute between the two countries.
The closed door meeting on Sunday night was held in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Earlier this year, the UN Secretary General sent a delegation to both countries in a bid to end the tension surrounding the decision by Caracas to claim parts of Guyana as its own.
Maduro had in May issued a Decree that included all the Atlantic waters off the Essequibo Coast.
The purported annexation of the waters off Essequibo now takes in the oil-rich Stabroek Block, where American oil giant Exxon Mobil in May found a “significant” reserve of high quality crude oil.
ExxonMobil said the discovery was made in one of the two wells it dug, in the Liza-1 drill site, which realised more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone
The UN investigative team is expected to submit a final report to the UN Secretary General on the completion of its probe. President David Granger maintains that he wants a judicial settlement to the matter.
Following the closed door meeting, Maduro has agreed to accept the credentials of the new Guyana Ambassador to Venezuela and to send his Ambassador back to Guyana.
Venezuela recalled its Ambassador a few months ago as Georgetown sought international support against Venezuela over the border dispute.
