Ariel Henry has tendered his resignation as Haiti's prime minister, clearing the way for a transitional government to lead the country to new elections, which have not been held since 2016.
As Haiti's future looks more uncertain by the hour with Prime Minister Ariel Henry unable to return to the country and gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier technically ruling in parts of Por-au-Prince, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) is seeking to play a leading role in the solution to the problem, it was reported in Georgetown, where Guyanese President Irfaan Ali holds the group's rotating chair.
Guyanese authorities have allocated US$ 201 million to update the South American country's military equipment as tensions with Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo mount. Helicopters, maritime surveillance vessels, and at least one drone will be acquired, President Irfaan Ali announced. Ali said his government would focus on technology items for the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) and on cooperation with allied countries.
In what is considered a success for Brazilian diplomacy, Venezuela and Guyana pledged in a joint statement last Thursday, not to resort to force to settle a long-standing dispute over contested land and adjoining sea in an oil and gas-rich region known as the Essequibo.
Presidents Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and Irfaan Ali of Guyana agreed Thursday in St. Vincent and the Grenadines not to threaten each other or use force in any circumstances. The 11-topic understanding was reached in the first round of talks brokered by host Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves as president pro-tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insisted Monday that next Thursday's talks in St Vicent and the Grenadines between him and his Guyanese colleague Irfaan Ali were the direct result of the Dec. 3 referendum and, hence, an achievement of the Venezuelan people.
The Brazilian Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula a Silva shall be sending a delegation headed by former Foreign Minister and current presidential advisor on international affairs Celso Amorim to Thursday's meeting between the leaders of Guyana and Venezuelan in St Vincent and the Grenadines to discuss the Guiana Essequiba issue, it was reported in Brasilia.
Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said that Venezuela's latest actions regarding the dispute over the Guaiana Essequiba were a regional threat and hoped Nicolás Maduro's regime would not act in an adventurous and very irresponsible manner.
Venezuela will press on with a weekend referendum over the fate of a vast disputed area in the Esequibo region it claims, disputing neighboring Guyana's jurisdiction, despite the UN International Court of Justice, ICJ, Friday ruling urging restraint in the dispute.
The Venezuelan administration of President Nicolás Maduro was dealt another international setback Thursday when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday turned down new objections filed by Caracas regarding the territorial dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo.