The United Kingdom announced on Sunday December 24 the deployment of a military patrol ship in support of Guyana. The former British colony is in the midst of a crisis over Essequibo, an oil-rich territory claimed by Venezuela. Caracas reacted by denouncing a ” provocation “.
” THE HMS Trent will travel to Guyana, our regional ally and Commonwealth partner this month for a series of engagements in the region”indicated the British Ministry of Defense in a press release, without further details.
According to the BBC, the patrol boat must participate in military maneuvers after Christmas with other unspecified allies of Guyana, for whom London had already shown its support by dispatching its Secretary of State for the Americas, David Rutley, to the site. THE HMS Trentusually based in the Mediterranean, was sent to the Caribbean at the beginning of December to fight against drug trafficking.
Also listen Venezuela: understand everything about the crisis with Guyana
“We remain on alert”
“A warship (…) ? After that ? And the commitment to goodwill and peaceful coexistence? And what about the promise not to resort to threats and not to use force under any circumstances? »wrote the Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López, on the social network . “We remain on alert in the face of these provocations which pose a risk to the peace and stability of the Caribbean”added the minister.
Some 125,000 people, or a fifth of Guyana’s population, live in Essequibo, which covers two-thirds of the country’s land area. Venezuela maintains that the Essequibo River should be the natural border, as in 1777 during the time of the Spanish Empire. Guyana argues that the border, dating from the English colonial era, was ratified in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris.
Tension rose after the launch of oil tenders by Guyana in September, then the referendum organized in response on December 3 in Venezuela on the annexation of the Essequibo, a territory of 160,000 km2 rich in oil and natural resources, administered by Georgetown and claimed by Venezuela.