Venezuela Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro yesterday suggested bilateral discussions on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy.

Maduro who was answering questions on the controversy during an interview at the close of the XIX Rio Group Summit held at the Guyana International Conference Centre told the media through an interpreter that, “It’s a delicate matter to be treated within the framework of a summit like this, which calls for the discussions of the issues for which the summit has been devoted to.”

He went on to suggest a bilateral summit, and added subsequently that “the Guyanese people can count [on] the most absolute solidarity from the Venezuelan people,” since both nations had a colonial past.

Not referring to any specific country, he added, “Now that we are free republics we cannot let them divide us.”

The Guyana-Venezuela border controversy is at present being addressed at a multilateral level under the Good Officer Process of the United Nations. Recently Oliver Jackman, who had been the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the controversy, died. He has not as yet been replaced.

Guyana’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Dr Odeen Ishmael, told this newspaper on Friday that “The Venezuelan side has so far not commented on a replacement for a Goodwill Officer in the UN Process. The new United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ought to name somebody