Kamla-Delcy embrace a slap in Guyana's face? — Keith Bernard — Opinion

Kamla-Delcy embrace a slap in Guyana's face?

September 25, 2026·2 min read

Published in

Kiskadee Watch ·Sep 25, 2026

Dear Editor,

The warm meeting between Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly raises some serious questions for Guyana and, indeed, for the wider Caribbean.

The two leaders met in New York on September 23 and described their encounter as the beginning of a “new era” in bilateral relations. Venezuela subsequently declared Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar persona grata, reversing the persona non grata designation imposed on her in 2025. The two governments also agreed to deepen cooperation in areas including energy, trade, security and other matters.

Diplomatic engagement between neighbouring states is, of course, nothing unusual. Trinidad and Tobago has every right to pursue its national interests and maintain relations with Venezuela. But the timing and circumstances of this particular embrace deserve closer scrutiny.

While Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar was meeting warmly with President Rodríguez, Rodríguez was simultaneously using the floor of the United Nations General Assembly^[1] to reaffirm Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s Essequibo and to call on Guyana to return to bilateral negotiations under the Geneva Agreement.^[1]

More troubling still, Rodríguez appeared at the UN wearing a brooch depicting Essequibo as part of Venezuela.^[2] This was not merely a fashion statement. It was a political symbol attached to a territorial claim involving two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass. Venezuelan officials have used similar imagery previously, prompting President Irfaan Ali to raise the matter with CARICOM.^[3]

This creates an uncomfortable question: What message does this send to Guyana?
CARICOM has repeatedly affirmed its support for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and has specifically cautioned that regional engagements should not be used to advance or appear to legitimise Venezuela’s claim while the matter remains before the International Court of Justice.

Against that background, should Guyanese regard the highly publicised warmth between Port of Spain and Caracas, and Venezuela’s decision to confer persona grata status on the Trinidadian Prime Minister, as simply normal diplomacy? Or does the optics of the meeting, occurring at the very moment Venezuela was publicly reaffirming its claim to Essequibo, raise legitimate concerns about regional solidarity?
There is an important distinction between maintaining diplomatic relations with Venezuela and appearing indifferent to the manner in which Venezuela continues to assert its territorial claim against a fellow CARICOM member.

Guyana should not expect its Caribbean neighbours to sever relations with Venezuela. Nor should it object to legitimate cooperation on energy, trade, security or other matters. But Guyana can reasonably expect that such engagement will not come at the expense of its sovereignty or create the impression that Venezuela’s claim is being tolerated, normalised or quietly accommodated.

The question, therefore, is not whether Trinidad and Tobago has the sovereign right to engage Venezuela. It clearly does.

The question is whether Caribbean diplomacy can embrace Venezuela while simultaneously defending the principle that CARICOM will not tolerate the legitimisation of Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s Essequibo.

For Guyana, this is more than a diplomatic photo opportunity. It is a test of what Caribbean solidarity means when one CARICOM member is engaged in a longstanding territorial controversy with a powerful neighbour.

Was the embrace in New York simply diplomacy or, given the circumstances, did it amount to a slap in the face to Guyana?

That is a question Guyanese, and the wider Caribbean, deserve to debate.

Sincerely,
Keith Bernard

References

Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly

www.america-times.com · 2026-09-24

Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly ... # Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly ... September 24, 2026 ... New York,23 September 2026 ... A very good evening to you, distinguished President of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, distinguished Heads of State, Heads of Government and Heads of Delegation. ... I would be remiss if I did not mention here, at the very headquarters of international law, our desire to reaffirm the historic rights of Venezuela over Guyana Esequiba. ... Here, I appeal to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resolve the issue and to return to negotiations as stipulated by the Geneva Agreement. ... Source Source Note: Transcript based on the United Nations General Assembly proceedings of 23 September 2026. The source transcript was produced using automatic speech recognition and is not an official United Nations record. Photo: UN Web TV

Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly

www.america-times.com · 2026-09-24

Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly ... # Statement by Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly ... New York,23 September 2026 ... I would be remiss if I did not mention here, at the very headquarters of international law, our desire to reaffirm the historic rights of Venezuela over Guyana Esequiba. ... Here, I appeal to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resolve the issue and to return to negotiations as stipulated by the Geneva Agreement. ... Agreements which last the longest are those that emerge from bilateral negotiations. They last longer and function better than those imposed by external bodies. ... I wish, before the 81st General Assembly of the United Nations, to thank President Donald Trump and his Government for their readiness to resume ... Today, we are ... Source Source Note: Transcript based on the United Nations General Assembly proceedings of 23 September 2026. The source transcript was produced using automatic speech recognition and is not an official United Nations record. Photo: UN Web TV

Venezuela president tells UN General Assembly negotiated settlement of Guyana border dispute best option – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

demerarawaves.com · 2026-09-24

WEARING A BROOCH WITH ESSEQUIBO INCLUDED IN VENEZUELA’S MAP: Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodrí guez addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2026. ... Just months away from the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) expected ruling on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award that settled the land boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, that country’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that she wants a negotiated settlement. ... Wearing a brooch that includes the Essequibo region as part of Venezuela’s map, she pointed out that she was making her remarks at the UN, the “very headquarters of international law”. ... Ms Rodrí guez said her country desired to reaffirm its rights over the Essequibo region which is two-thirds of Guyana’s 83,000 square miles. ... “ Here, I appeal to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to resolve the issue and to return to negotiations, as stipulated by the Geneva Agreement. Agreements which last ... longest are those that emerge from bilateral negotiations. They last longer and function better than those imposed by external bodies,” she said.

President Ali writes CARICOM Chairman about Rodríguez’s false Essequibo brooch - News Room Guyana

newsroom.gy · 2026-04-28

# President Ali writes CARICOM Chairman about Rodríguez’s false Essequibo brooch April 28, 2026 From left: CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Terrence Drew, and Guyana's President Dr. Irfaan Ali ... President Dr. Irfaan Ali has written to the incumbent Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), objecting to acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez’s use of a brooch of her country’s map that includes Guyana’s Essequibo Region during official talks with regional leaders. ... In a letter to St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrence Drew, President Ali said it is “deeply regrettable” that bilateral engagements between Venezuela and sister CARICOM states have been accompanied by the prominent display of symbols asserting Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory. The Guyanese leader reminded Prime Minister Drew that all CARICOM Heads have repeatedly and unequivocally supported Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for the resolution of the controversy through the judicial process before the International Court of Justice. ... I note with grave concern the public display by Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, during official engagements in Member States of the Caribbean Community, of a map purporting to incorporate Guyana’s Essequibo region as part of Venezuela. ... Guyana fully respects the sovereign right of CARICOM ... States to conduct bilateral relations with all partners ... including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ... However, it is deeply regrettable that such engagements have been accompanied by the prominent display ... symbols asserting Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory. ... The use of CARICOM engagements to project or promote a territorial claim against a Member State risks being interpreted as acquiescence or tolerance. No action, whether deliberate or inadvertent, should create the impression that the Community’s platforms may be used to advance claims now before the International Court of Justice. CARICOM’s principled support for Guyana must be reflected not only in declarations, but also in the context and conduct of official engagements. ... This is not a matter of symbolism alone. It is a calculated and provocative assertion of a claim that Guyana has consistently and lawfully rejected, and which is before the International Court of Justice for final adjudication. ... Guyana recalls its consistent position that the boundary was settled by the 1899 Arbitral Award, which determined the boundary as a full, perfect and final settlement. Venezuela’s revival of the claim decades later, and its more recent measures purporting to annex the Essequibo and appoint officials for that territory, form part of a pattern of conduct inconsistent with international law and the process to which the matter has been submitted. These actions persist notwithstanding the Order of the Court of 1 December 2023, which required Venezuela not to take any action that would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby Guyana administers and exercises control over that area, and required both Parties to refrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve. ... I am writing to you, the current Chairman of CARICOM, conveying Guyana’s concern and urging continued vigilance in safeguarding the Community’s principled position. ... Guyana reminds all CARICOM Heads of Government of their repeated and unequivocal support for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for the resolution of the controversy through the judicial process before the Court. That position was reaffirmed most recently at the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government. ... fully committed to the ... of this matter in ... with international law ... We continue to repose our ... At the same time, Guyana expects all ... , to act