CARACAS, December 12. /TASS/. Venezuela will seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the territorial dispute with Guyana, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stated on Monday in the author's "Con Maduro +" program of the Venezolana de Television TV channel.

Nicolas Maduro highly appreciated the initiative to organize talks with the President of Guyana, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, which will take place on December 14 in the Caribbean island state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

"I consider convening a face-to-face meeting [with the President of Guyana] a great achievement for Latin America and the Caribbean. We have always talked about this, we are following this path with great willingness and the voice of the Venezuelan people," the president said. He underscored that Venezuela "will seek and guide a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict that arose due to the illegal decisions of the Guyanese government and Exxon Mobil."

The President conveyed his gratitude in a letter to Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves, who chairs the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and, together with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), is the initiator of high-level talks to resolve the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana.

Guayana Esequiba

On December 6, the Venezuelan National Assembly (Parliament) passed a bill on the protection of Guayana Esequiba within Venezuela based on the results of a consultative referendum. The bill provides for the creation of the 24th state of Guayana Esequiba in the disputed territory. Following this, the United States announced the start of joint air force exercises with the military of Guyana.

The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the ownership of an area of 159,500 square kilometers of territory west of the Essequibo River has persisted for more than 100 years. This territory constitutes more than two-thirds of Guyana, and 283,000 people live there. The territorial dispute intensified in 2015 with the discovery of oil fields, containing at least 10 billion barrels of oil and the granting of concession by Guyana to ExxonMobil for oil production on the shelf, the boundaries of which are not delimited.