MANAUS, (Reuters) – A convoy of military trucks and armoured vehicles set off for Brazil’s northern border today to reinforce the presence of the Brazilian army in response to tensions over Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s Essequibo region.
More than two dozen armoured cars arrived in Manaus by river transport and some left by road for Boa Vista, capital of Roraima state, where the local garrison will be increased to 600 soldiers, the army said in a statement.
The armoured vehicle reinforcements include six Cascavel, a six-wheeled Brazilian armoured car with a 37-mm cannon; eight Guarani, a 6×6 personnel carrier; and 14 Guaicuru, a four-wheel drive multitask light armoured car, the army said. The heavier armoured cars were transported on flatbed trailer trucks.
Army officers could not say if the vehicles would stay in Boa Vista or be deployed to Pacaraima on the border with Venezuela.
The border conflict involves a 160,000-sq km (62,000 sq mile) region of Guyana that is more than twice the size of Ireland and mostly thick jungle.
Venezuela has reactivated an old claim to Essequibo in recent years after large oil and gas deposits were discovered offshore.
Venezuela and Guyana agreed in December not to use force or escalate tension in the dispute at a meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Last week, at a meeting mediated by Brazil, Venezuela vowed to stick to diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
But Caracas’ revival of its claim nevertheless prompted Brazil to say it would not let Venezuela use Brazilian territory in Roraima to invade Essequibo, there being no other land route through the jungle.
A report by the Brazilian military Joint Chiefs of Staff found that Venezuela does not have the military capability to invade Essequibo because it has “little logistical capacity” to support missions over the border.
The seven-page document seen by Reuters said Brazil has a contingency plan to prevent any Venezuelan military incursion against Guyana passing through Brazilian territory.
It concluded, however, that a clash between Brazil’s two neighbours was unlikely as a peaceful solution was emerging.
