Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro exchanged gifts at a regional summit in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Friday as the two countries dispute ownership of the Essequibo region in Guyana.

Ali gave a bottle of rum and a medal of his country to Maduro, who offered a box full of Venezuelan products in return when they met at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Kingstown.

“Peace and love!” Maduro told him in English.

“I hope that the good relations that have been established for dialogue deepen... and that we look for, face to face... a healthy, peaceful and diplomatic solution to the differences and controversy that we have had since the 19th century,” Maduro said Friday.

“We want peace. We want prosperity for our neighbors and all in this region,” Ali said. “I am prepared to speak with President Maduro on any aspect that may contribute to enhancing the relationship between our two countries.”

Friday’s meeting marked a far more relaxed encounter than the one between the two leaders last December, in the same summit.