In the wake of reports of Venezuela’s deployment of military troops to this country’s western border, the Guyana Government yesterday urged citizens to be alert yet remain calm as it continues to monitor the situation.
However Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour has since said that the deployment of its troops to the Guyana border was part of a military exercise it is conducting.
“The Government of Guyana is concerned about this unannounced and unexplained build-up of military forces close to Guyana’s border and waters and is closely monitoring this development,” the government said in a statement last evening.
This latest move by Venezuela follows the May 26 decree issued by President Nicolás Maduro claiming sovereignty over Guyana’s territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo region, which had seen a slew of public statements being made by both countries on the decades’ long controversy.
Questions had been raised over the motives behind the Decree as it has been noted that it came just days after US oil firm ExxonMobil announced what could be the first major oil find in Guyana’s waters. Maps issued by Caracas showed the ExxonMobil well site within the zone referred to in the decree.
Last week too Venezuelan media reports said that President Maduro had ordered the suspension of the formal process to accredit Marilyn Cheryl Miles who had been named by the Government of Guyana as ambassador to Venezuela.
Government has told citizens who live close to the frontier that they should be vigilant but should not panic. “Guyanese citizens close to the border with Venezuela are urged to be alert to this development and are further urged to remain within the boundaries of Guyana. Guyanese in other communities are requested to remain calm as the Government of Guyana continues to monitor this situation and will provide updates if and when it becomes necessary,” the statement read.
Guyanese are also being urged to only use legal ports of entry into and out of Venezuela if they have to travel to or from that country.
It was President David Granger who yesterday morning informed the media following the swearing-in of the two new PPP/C commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission, that he had received reports of the Venezuelan military deployment. Granger said he found the act “extraordinary and abnormal”.
He explained that the Venezuelan troops deployed were various categories of ground military as well as marine personnel.
The President later summoned a high-level security meeting at his office yesterday morning and said Guyana will take whatever action is “deemed appropriate to protect the territorial integrity of the country.”
While Venezuela admitted to having troops at the border, that country’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has said that it was part of a military exercise in preparation for any eventuality. “We are really preparing ourselves…even with all the fronts we face today,” Padrino Lopez was quoted by Reuters as saying.
However Guyana’s President said he believes the build-up of troops at this country’s border was directly related to the ongoing border controversy. Said Granger, “I have been in my earlier profession familiar with Venezuelan behaviour and what we have noticed during the month of September is an extraordinary escalation of Venezuelan military activity in eastern Venezuela.”
He went on to say that he feels that Venezuela is treading a dangerous course instead of seeking a peaceful resolution of the matter.
He will be raising the issue not only during his address to United Nations General Assembly next week, but also when he has bilaterals with various world leaders, he said.
“This certainly will be central to Guyana’s representation in the UN [General] Assembly and to the bilaterals we will be having with heads of states all around the world,” he noted.
Government said that it remains committed to peaceful co-existence as enshrined in the United Nations Charter: “Guyana remains committed to that principle and would regard any act that is not consistent with that principle as a breach of international law that will result in serious consequences.”
Guyana’s boundary with Venezuela was settled following an award handed down in 1899 by a tribunal sitting in Paris.
It was accepted by Venezuela for more than 60 years, until in 1962 when that country unilaterally declared the award null and void.
The controversy which has arisen because of Venezuela’s contention about the invalidity of the award is currently in the hands of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Guyana has indicated its preference for a judicial settlement, but Venezuela wants a resuscitation of the Good Offices process which after many years had produced no result.
