Guyana assures that it does not plan to take "offensive actions" against Venezuela

The vice president of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, assured this Thursday that his country has “no plan to take offensive actions” against Venezuela, which has described the arrival of a British warship on the Guyanese coast as a “threat.”

“This is not about waging wars, but about better monitoring our exclusive economic zone and (safeguarding) our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the Guyanese vice president said at a press conference.

This is how Jagdeo responded to the decision of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, to order this Thursday “a joint action of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom against the peace and sovereignty” of Venezuela.

Last Sunday, the United Kingdom announced the sending of the ship HMS Trent to Guyana, a former British colony, as a “show of military and diplomatic support” to the country in its dispute with neighboring Venezuela over the management of the Essequibo.

In this regard, Jagdeo noted that this visit is “routine” and something “planned for a long time that is part of the construction of Guyana's defensive capacity.”.

For this reason, Guyana is not going to reject the ship, as requested by Venezuela.

The vice president also stressed that Guyana is committed to the Argyle Declaration, in which Caracas and Georgetown agreed not to threaten each other and to avoid incidents that would trigger tension over the Essequibo border dispute.

“Nothing we do or have done threatens Venezuela,” Jagdeo emphasized.

However, the Government of Venezuela condemned the arrival of the British warship in Guyana as a “hostile provocation” and a “direct threat to peace.”

For his part, Maduro insisted that it is a “rupture” of the agreements he signed with his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, on December 14 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the so-called Argyle Declaration.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, said that he feels “very optimistic” that the dialogue between Venezuela and Guyana will continue in “good spirit”, despite the arrival of the British warship.

“What I hope is that fewer events occur that could lead to an interpretation of provocation or threat,” said Gonsalves, who acts as interlocutor between Caracas and Georgetown.

He also defended that HMS Trent “is not a stranger in the region”, since in the past it has helped in anti-drug operations, human trafficking and search and rescue, and has “a very limited military capacity.”.

The dispute over Essequibo escalated after Venezuela approved on December 3 in a unilateral referendum to annex this region of almost 160,000 square kilometers, which Guyana has controlled since 1966 and whose controversy is in the hands of the International Court of Justice.