Venezuela on Thursday condemned as “provocation” the announcement of joint US-Guyanese military exercises, as soaring tensions with its neighbor over a disputed oil-rich region prompted the UN Security Council to call an urgent meeting.
Caracas vowed not to be deterred from its planned “recovery” of the Essequibo region, which has been administered by Guyana for more than a century and is the subject of border-related litigation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
“This unfortunate provocation by the United States in favor... of ExxonMobil in Guyana is another step in the wrong direction,” Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on X, formerly Twitter, adding: “we will not be diverted from our future actions for the recovery of the Essequibo,” where the US oil giant has discovered crude.
The region comprises about two-thirds of Guyanese territory and is home to 125,000 of the country’s 800,000 citizens. It is also claimed by Venezuela, which is seeking to bring the area under its rule.
Fears of the conflict blowing up have deepened as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has upped the ante following a controversial referendum on Sunday on annexing the region.
US ALARMED
Increasingly alarmed at a possible threat from the authoritarian, leftist Venezuelan government, the US announced it would conduct “flight operations within Guyana” on Thursday.
The joint exercises were part of “routine engagement and operations to enhance security partnership” with Guyana, the US embassy in Georgetown said in a statement.
In New York, the UN Security Council was to meet behind closed doors yesterday to discuss the fast-escalating feud, an official schedule showed.
Guyanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd had asked the council’s president to “call urgently for a meeting” to discuss “a grave matter that threatens international peace and security.”
Guyana said on Thursday an army helicopter had been found after it went missing the day before in a dense, mountainous zone near the border.
Five of the seven soldiers aboard were dead, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said on Instagram.
The Guyanese army, which had said on Wednesday there was “no information to suggest” Venezuela was involved, announced it had opened an investigation.
SUPPORT
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also voiced “growing concern” about the tension on his country’s northern border, telling a summit of the Mercosur trade bloc: “If there’s one thing we don’t want here in South America, it’s war.”
The Brazilian army said on Wednesday it was reinforcing its presence in two northern cities.
Guyana’s armed forces were on “alert,” Ali added in a rare address to the nation late on Tuesday, and were in contact with “partners” including the US.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call with Ali on Wednesday reaffirmed the US’ “unwavering support for Guyana’s sovereignty” and called for a peaceful resolution.
Asked on Thursday how far Washington would go in supporting Guyana, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he did not want to “speculate about that kind of thing.”
He told journalists at a White House briefing the sides should find a diplomatic solution, adding: “We don’t want to see this come to blows.”
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