The Government of Guyana has announced the appointment of politician and businessman Dr Richard Van West-Charles as the new ambassador to Venezuela.
This was reported by Guyana’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Robert Persaud, through his account on the social network X on Wednesday.
Persaud’s X post said: “Wishing a successful tour of duty to our new Ambassador to Venezuela Dr Van West-Charles as he prepares for Caracas on January 15 after which he will present his letters of credential to the president of Venezuela.”
Persaud confirmed that the date of departure will be January 15 after which West-Charles will present his letters of credence to the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.
Guyana was awaiting Venezuela’s acceptance of the diplomat’s credentials for several months.
West-Charles is the son-in-law of late Guyanese president Forbes Burnham, who was also the founding leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC).
He served as Head of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) under the former APNU+AFC administration.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Guyana is Carlos Amador Perez Silva who previously served as Venezuela’s Ambassador to T&T up to 2022.
The appointment of West-Charles as the new Ambassador to Venezuela comes at a time of heightened tension between the two countries over the disputed Essequibo region.
In December, both countries met in St Vincent and the Grenadines where they signed the Argyle Agreement before Caricom and other South American leaders, which promised that no military force will be used to solve the border dispute.
However, tensions rose again at the end of December when the British sent a warship to Guyana which Venezuela denounced and led to Venezuela hosting military exercises with almost 6,000 soldiers and showing off military hardware such as fighter jets and missiles.
