BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was due here on Friday for talks with Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders, cancelled his visit at the last moment.

No reason was given for Maduro’s decision not to travel to Barbados, but he had addrsssed his parliament on Thursday on the border dispute with Guyana, a Caricom member state.

Instead, Caracas sent Executive Vice President Jorge Arreaza to meet with the Caricom leaders who were into the second day of their 36th annual summit here Friday.

Guyana had called on Caricom to condemn, “in the strongest terms”, efforts by Venezuela to go back on an agreement that settled their border dispute dating back to 116 years.

Maduro issued the decree on May 26 that includes all the Atlantic waters off the Essequibo Coast.

The purported annexation of the waters off Essequibo now takes in the oil-rich Stabroek Block, where American oil giant Exxon Mobil in May found a “significant” reserve of high-quality crude oil.

Exxon Mobil said the discovery was made in one of the two wells it dug, in the Liza-1 drill site, which realised more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone.

Venezuela has demanded that Guyana halt the oil exploration, but as he addressed the opening ceremony of the summit here on Thursday night, President David Granger said his country was seeking the assistance of the international community in ensuring a peaceful solution.

But he made it clear that despite the superior wealth and military and naval strength of Venezuela, Guyana will not back down on its position.

“Naval superiority cannot be allowed to supplant the supremacy of the law. Gunboat diplomacy has no place in the 21st century Caribbean and must be condemned where it occurs,” Granger added.