CARACAS.- In response to the presence of the British warship HMS Trent in Guyana, more than 5,600 Venezuelan military personnel began military exercises ordered by dictator Nicolás Maduro. The measure was announced as a joint action of the entire Bolivarian National Armed Forces, deployed in the Eastern Caribbean of Venezuela and the Atlantic Facade.
Maduro stated that this action has a “defensive” nature and seeks to confront what he considers a provocation and threat by the United Kingdom against the peace and sovereignty of Venezuela.
The British ship HMS Trent is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Guyana on Friday, where it will carry out open sea defense exercises for less than a week, according to a source in Guyana’s Foreign Ministry. At this time, the ship is not scheduled to dock in Georgetown.
Russian F-16 and Sukhoi fighter planes, as well as ships, ocean patrol vessels and amphibious vehicles, also participated in the first phase of the Venezuelan military exercises. Images transmitted by the regime showed warplanes patrolling the area with the slogan “combat role.”
Ship generates tensions
Despite the recent meeting between Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where both leaders pledged to avoid a military conflict, the presence of the British ship generates tensions for the Maduro regime, a conflict that he fueled. after holding a referendum on the Essequibo conflict.
In this sense, the Venezuelan regime urged Guyana, through a statement, to take immediate measures for the withdrawal of the ship HMS Trent and to refrain from involving military powers in the territorial dispute.
Maduro described the “threat” from the United Kingdom as “unacceptable” and reiterated Venezuela’s sovereignty over the Essequibo region, appealing to the Geneva agreement signed in 1966.
Tensions between Venezuela and the United Kingdom intensified after the referendum on the sovereignty of Essequibo held on December 3 in Venezuela, held after the opposition primaries in which María Corina Machado was the winner and with which Maduro would have to face in the presidential elections of 2024. Analysts assure that the consultation carried out by the dictator of Venezuela is an element of distraction.
In a previous statement, the head of UK diplomacy in America, David Rutley, reaffirmed British support for Guyana, fanning the flames in this historic territorial dispute.
Source: With information from AFP
