Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the United States has installed secret military bases in the oil rich disputed region of Essequibo.
Maduro made the claim on Thursday while speaking at a ceremony commemorating a recent law defending Guyana Essequibo.
The 62,000-square-mile oil- and mineral-rich area around the Essequibo River is at the center of a territorial dispute between Venezuela and a former British colony, Guyana.
The Latin Amercican leader said, we have information proving that, in the territory of Guyana Essequibo, temporarily administered by Guyana, secret military bases of the [USA] Southern Command… a body of the CIA, have been installed.
The bases constitute aggression against the people of southern and eastern Venezuela, and were built to prepare for an escalation against Venezuela, after several failed coup attempts in 2019.
The US Southern Command, part of the Department of Defense, maintains a Security Cooperation Office in Guyana, and serves as a military consultant to the Guyana Defense Force, providing military support and training.
Following a national referendum at the beginning of December, Caracas laid claim to Guayana Esequiba – a mostly forested region that Venezuela claims to have owned for over a century.
Guyana has protested, noting that the area amounts to two-thirds of its internationally recognized territory, and has asked the international community for help.
The dispute over the Essequibo area intensified in 2015 after US-based energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil deposits there. After December’s referendum, US forces held joint US-Guyana military exercises.
The British Royal Navy deployed patrol ship HMS Trent to Guyana in January to show its backing for the country.
According to Maduro, the disputed region is being controlled by the Southern Command, the CIA, and ExxonMobil, which are seeking to seize Venezuelan resources.
British Military Landing Ship docked @ Curacao ready to invade Venezuela?
Britain’s decision to dispatch a warship to Guyana breaches the spirit of the agreement to resolve the Essequibo dispute peacefully and will be met with defensive action, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Great Britain announced it would send the offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent, currently deployed in the Caribbean, to visit the regional ally and Commonwealth partner.
Maduro called the move practically a military threat from London that violates the spirit of dialogue, diplomacy and peace of the agreements made with Guyana.
Venezuela has ordered the activation of joint defensive action by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces in response to the British provocation and threat to the peace and sovereignty of our country, the Venezuelan president said in a televised speech.
Venezuela reserves all actions, within the framework of the Constitution and International Law, to defend its maritime and territorial integrity.
Following a national referendum at the beginning of December, Caracas laid claim to Guayana Esequiba, a mostly forested region rich in mineral resources that Venezuela asserts it has owned for over a century.
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Guyana has protested, noting that the area amounts to two-thirds of its internationally recognized territory, and asked the international community for help.
Brazil and several Caribbean countries have offered to mediate the dispute, resulting in Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali signing the Declaration of Argyle on December 14, at a meeting in St. Vincent.
Both sides pledged to refrain from escalation by words or deeds and established a joint commission to discuss the dispute.
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Four days later, Britain’s Undersecretary for the Americas David Rutley visited Georgetown and promised Guyana unequivocal backing, vowing to ensure the territorial integrity of Guyana is upheld?
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who has taken on the role of the mediator in the dispute, told the island via radio on Thursday that he had read the Venezuelan statement very carefully, describing it as firm but… not particularly belligerent.
Gonsalves said he has reached out to both Georgetown and Caracas, and received assurances from both of their commitment to peace and continued dialogue.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2024.
Americans are like pests, popping up wherever there is something they want to steal.
Sink that ship. Show them Venezuela is not Argentina. Its time for those colonial pieces of 5417 to stay in their do-damned side of the planet.
Carpet bomb the disputed area to get rid of these war criminal occupying thieves before they multiply.
Interesting how US regime never has enough money for its dire roads, bridges, dams, public schools, health care, dental care… but has infinite money for wars, coups, bombings, aggression, sanctions, etc., around the world
That is the reason why interest killed capitalism and the Anglo Zio-Nazi swamp will cease to exist!