Guyana says it won’t bow to Venezuela in dispute over territory rich in oil and minerals

By BERT WILKINSON
Associated Press

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) — The small South American nation of Guyana says it refuses to bow to its larger neighbor Venezuela as leaders of the two countries met in the latest chapter of their bitter dispute over an oil- and mineral-rich territory claimed by both. Guyana’s government says that who controls the area called Essequibo ‘is not up for discussion, negotiation or deliberation.” Guyanese President Irfaan Ali echoed those comments during a break in talks Thursday with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent.