WASHINGTON.- The deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Defense for the Western Hemisphere of USADaniel Erikson, announced a two-day trip to Guyana to “support regional stability” amid the tensions generated in recent weeks with Venezuela for the territorial dispute Essequibounder Guyanese administration.
Erikson is scheduled to meet with the Government of Guyana, the Armed Forces and leaders of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) “to discuss the United States’ defense and security partnership with Guyana and other regional partners. This trip “underscores the continued importance that the United States grants to the bilateral partnership (between both countries) in support of regional stability,” reads a statement from the US Embassy in Georgetown.
Washington, which has stressed the importance of the defense partnership in the short term, with “solid military-to-military commitments” and in the long term with the modernization of armed institutions, stated that it “continues to work closely with its allies around the world to strengthen alliances and partnerships by improving interoperability, deepening information sharing and planning, and conducting complex joint and combined exercises.”
History of a conflict
The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo dates back almost two centuries, although it was five years ago, with the discovery of important oil deposits under its waters, when the conflict was revived.
Both countries are embroiled in a dispute over 159,000 square kilometers of territory west of the Essequibo River, a region rich in oil, minerals and biodiversity that often appears on Venezuelan maps as a claim zone and that constitutes two-thirds of the total surface area of Guyana.
Source: With information from Europa Press
