Venezuelan and Guyanan presidents meet over disputed territory

A boy drives a motorcycle in front of a mural of the Venezuelan map with the Essequibo territory included in Caracas, Venezuela (Matias Delacroix/AP)

The leaders of Guyana and Venezuela have landed in St Vincent and the Grenadines for a tense meeting as regional nations sought to defuse a long-standing territorial dispute that has escalated with Venezuelans voting in a referendum to claim two thirds of their smaller neighbour.

Pushed by regional partners, Guyanan President Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro agreed to meet at the Argyle International Airport on the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent.