Addis Ababa, 25 September 2023 – The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) is monitoring with great concern the escalation of tensions between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, a Founding State of the OSC, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a member of the Southern family of Nations.

The Secretary-General echoes the apprehension expressed by a number of other international and regional organisations, exhorts all stakeholders to avoid any allusion to the potential use of force, and urges, in the spirit of human fraternity, the renewal of dialogue with a view of reaching an amicable and equitable resolution of the present situation, in accordance with international law and the cardinal principle of respect for sovereignty.

The Secretary-General also reaffirms the imperative of preserving the region of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, condition sine qua non for the edification of shared prosperity, and recalls the indissoluble ties which bind the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as neighbours.

The Secretary-General reiterates the importance of the exercise of restraint in order to reach the peaceful and permanent resolution of disputes amongst countries of the South, which lies at the heart of the Organisation’s mandate and efforts to strengthen Southern solidarity, cooperation, and integration, with devotion to the human dimension of the collective ideals of its Founding and Member States.