MEXICO CITY — Venezuela mentioned Saturday it should proceed to deploy almost 6,000 troops till a British navy vessel despatched to neighboring Guyana leaves the waters off the coast of the 2 South American nations.
In a video posted to X, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino appeared surrounded by navy officers in entrance of a marked up map of Venezuela and Guyana, a former British colony.
Padrdino mentioned the forces are “safeguarding our national sovereignty.”
“Armed forces have been deployed not just in the east of the country, but across the entire territory,” he mentioned. “They will be there until this British imperialist boat leaves the disputed waters between Venezuela and Guyana.”
The Defense Ministry confirmed to The Associated Press that the video was made at a navy base in Venezuela‘s capital, Caracas.
The video comes after weeks of tensions between the two countries over Venezuela‘s renewed claim to a region in Guyana known as Essequibo, a sparsely populated stretch of land roughly the size of Florida that is rich in oil and minerals. Operations generate some $1 billion a year for the impoverished country of nearly 800,000 people that saw its economy expand by nearly 60% in the first half of this year.
Venezuela has long argued it was cheated out of the territory when Europeans and the U.S. set the border. Guayana, which has controlled the zone for decades, says the original agreement was legally binding and the dispute should be decided by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.
The century-old dispute was recently reignited with the discovery of oil in Guyana, and has escalated since Venezuela reported that its citizens voted in a Dec. 3 referendum to claim Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of its smaller neighbor.
Critics of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro say the socialist leader is using the tensions to distract from internal turmoil and stoke nationalism in the lead up to presidential elections next year.
In recent weeks, the leaders of Guyana and Venezuela promised in a tense meeting that neither side would use threats or force against the other, but failed to reach agreement on how to address the bitter dispute.
Tensions came to another head with Friday’s arrival in Guyana of the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Trent, most lately used to intercept pirates and drug smugglers off Africa. It is provided with cannons and a touchdown pad for helicopters and drones and may carry round 50 marines.
Maduro mentioned the ship’s deployment violates the shaky settlement between Venezuela and Guyana, calling its presence a menace to his nation. In response, Maduro ordered Venezuela‘s military – including air and naval forces – to conduct exercises near the disputed area.
“We believe in diplomacy, in dialogue and in peace, but no one is going to threaten Venezuela,” Maduro said. “This is an unacceptable threat to any sovereign country in Latin America.”
Guyana‘s government rejected Maduro’s claims, with officers saying that the go to was a deliberate exercise geared toward enhancing the nation’s protection capabilities and that the ship’s go to would proceed as scheduled.
During talks earlier in December, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali mentioned his nation reserved its proper to work with companions to make sure the protection of his nation. Guyana has a navy of solely 3,000 troopers, 200 sailors and 4 small patrol boats generally known as Barracudas, whereas Venezuela has about 235,000 lively navy personnel in its military, air power, navy and nationwide guard.
“Nothing that we do or have done is threatening Venezuela,” Guyana’s vp, Bharrat Jagdeo, instructed reporters in Georgetown, the nation’s capital.
