Venezuela has ordered more than 5,600 soldiers to take part in a “defensive” exercise in a protest against the United Kingdom. The British send a warship to their former colony of Guyana. That country is involved in a border dispute with Venezuela over the oil-rich Guyanese region of Essequibo.
President Nicolás Maduro said on television that the exercise by the Venezuelan armed forces follows Britain’s “provocation and threat against the peace and sovereignty of our country.” Images of warships and fighter planes were also shown.
The Venezuelan government previously called on neighboring country Guyana to take action against the arrival of the British ship. The United Kingdom announced on Sunday that it would send patrol vessel HMS Trent to Guyana, without mentioning the border dispute. British media speak of a signal of support for the former colony.
The ship will arrive in the country’s territory on Friday, according to a source from the Guyanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. HMS Trent will remain on open sea exercises for “less than a week” and will not dock in the capital Georgetown, the source said.
About two-thirds of Guyana consists of Essequibo, an area west of the river of the same name that covers approximately 160,000 square kilometers. Since a lot of oil was discovered there in 2015, the region has increasingly been claimed by the government in Caracas. The conflict has flared up in recent months. The presidents of the countries stated last week that they wanted to resolve the dispute peacefully and not to allow tensions to rise further.
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