During a speech in front of Venezuela’s National Assembly President Nicolás Maduro announced that he has decided to recall Venezuela’s ambassador to Guyana. In addition he planned to reduce the number of officials at the embassy and ordered Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez to review diplomatic relations with Guyana.
Maduro’s new statement comes on the heels of his May 27, 2015 “decree” claiming ownership of Guyana’s continental shelf.
Maduro further stated that "the history of the Essequibo has been like a wound in the heart of the country for over two centuries".
He also stated that diplomatic initiatives will be used to establish forums necessary, with the help of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), Community Latin American and Caribbean (CELAC) and the United Nations (UN), to remove the impasse with the Government of Guyana, whose current president, David Granger, "has become a provocateur.
He reiterated the vow of friendship and sincere respect for all the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana”
President Maduro was speaking before the Executive Cabinet and Deputies of the National Assembly in a Nationwide radio broadcast.
