MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Guyana terms “illegal” and “spurious” Venezuela's claim over the Esequibo
Guyana's Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett termed “illegal” and “spurious” Venezuela's claim over Essequibo, which is equivalent to a third of the former British colony territory. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesThey might be wishing they became a BOT instead of independent, I can't see the Royal Navy getting involved in this when Venezuela decide to help themselves, which they undoubtedly will given time.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 08:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Guyana ia a Commonwealth country so the UK will come to their aid. They know it, and more importantly Venezuela knows it.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 09:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0Trouble at home , Mr Maduro ? Time to make threats of a land grab , then .
Nov 13th, 2013 - 09:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0The UK will not go to Guyana's aid because it is a Commonwealth country.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 10:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0But it's karma for not being vocal or even supportive in the face of the bullying the Falkland endures from Argentina.
I'm not so sure about that, maybe as a joint task force with other nations, but I doubt we would protect Guyana in the same way we do the Falklands. Guyana ceased to be a British protectorate in 1966.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 10:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0@2 Guyana has very cordial relations with both the United States and India.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 11:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0@6 I agree.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 11:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Any military intervention by Venezuela would be dealt with by the UN or possibly regional groupings. The only time I could see the UK acting alone would be if British nationals were at risk, and even then it would only be to evacuate them.
The UK has no obligation to defend a country simply because it is a member of the commonwealth.
maduro Barking...
Nov 13th, 2013 - 11:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0I do not think Guyana need worry, after all, isn't the Venezualan Army already engaged in the battle against the Retailers! Having been redeployed after their victory against the toilet paper hoarders.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 12:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Man oh man, you could not make this shit up!
7@ lou spoo
Nov 13th, 2013 - 12:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I agree. There is no commonwealth military alliance however Venezuela could never get away with it but since Maduro has less brain cells than a Pot Noodle, the prospect of failure has probably not entered his mind.
A typical example of a tinpot country going back on it's agreements:
Nov 13th, 2013 - 01:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“When the British surveyed British Guiana in 1840, they included the entire Cuyuni River basin within the colony. Venezuela did not agree with this as it claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River. In 1898, at Venezuela's request, an international arbitration tribunal was convened, and in 1899 they issued an award giving about 94% of the disputed territory to British Guiana.
Venezuela and Great Britain accepted the award by treaty in 1905, but Venezuela raised the issue again at the time of Guyana's independence and continues to claim Guayana Esequiba.[19] Venezuela calls this region ”Zona en Reclamación” (Reclamation Zone) and Venezuelan maps of the national territory routinely include it, drawing it in with dashed lines.”
Venezuela v Guyana. Belize v Guatemala ?
Nov 13th, 2013 - 01:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Any parallels here?
If venezuela doesn´t want to be kicked on the behind.She should just keep out from Guyana............
Nov 13th, 2013 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@13 Aussie logical I would agree, but when a country finds things going wrong internally they whip up patriotic sentiment with the mob to distract them from their troubles to maintain their popularity.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 02:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@7 Lou Spoo
Nov 13th, 2013 - 05:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Actually if Guyana asks the UK for assistance, then the UK is duty bound as a member of the Commonwealth, to defend Guyana.
However, I agree that the UN would be involved, but that always takes time. So it is likely that Guyana would ask the UK for assistance, and the UK would probably give it. Other Commonwealth countries would most likely assist too.
Venezuela would be stupid to try a military action, but as we saw with Argentina and the Falklands, desperate governments invite wars to distract the people at home.
Perhaps Guyana would be wise to invite the Royal Navy around for a visit.
I could see the Brits defending Belize, but not Guyana, other than as part of a multinational force.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 07:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If Venezuela did try something, there would be serious pressure on them to desist from many quarters.
With respect to the Commonwealth, there have been wars between Commonwealth countries and nobody has intervened.
Just kit Guyana's army out in spidman outfits: Maduro would lose all bowl control.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 07:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Interesting to note that the current socialist government in Guyana supports the 'Great Malvinas Lie' but this appears to be at odds with most of the population. Many in Guyana feared they might soon need some 'old friends.' Perhaps HMG might be able to abstract some leverage in respect of the Falklands.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 07:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The current mob in Venezuela are just looking for excuses, just like Argentina, Spain, North Korea etc...
Belize is a Commonwealth Realm with a shared sovereign with the UK.
Nov 13th, 2013 - 07:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Guyana is a republic.
So the UK has constitutional links with Belize but not with Guyana.
@19 Anglotino
Nov 13th, 2013 - 08:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Agreed BUT Guyana is still a member of the Commonwealth, and they can always appeal to the UK for assistance. What form that assistance takes could be similar to what we gave Belize, which is mainly training teams and military hardware so they could do most of the fighting themselves, with some special forces too.
I'm sure the Guyanese would love to give the bully Venezuela a bloody nose.
@20
Nov 13th, 2013 - 09:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Can you show me where it states that the UK is duty bound to defend Guyana as a Commonwealth nation? We are all equal in the Commonwealth, the UK has no greater status than anyone else. At the present time the Queen is the head, but that can and probably will change.
The ship sailed on any 'unilateral' UK defence of Guyana when they became an independent republic.
We could probably offer them logistical assistance and bad advice, just like our great friend the US did for us during the Falklands war.
Yet an example of the great South American Brotherhood at work.
Nov 14th, 2013 - 12:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0There is considerable risk that Venezuela assaults Guyana, because the Venezuelan economy is completely in shambles and the government needs an external enemy to avoid an insurgency.
This enemy, however, must be a small and weak contry (population app 770,000), or they will fail as Argentina did in 1982.
Membership of the Commonwealth will not protect Guyana, which placed its bet on the wrong horse, when it chose independence over being a BOT.
@20 LEPRecon
Nov 14th, 2013 - 11:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0I do not think Guyana would be left to fend for itself. I think Britain would assist along with other countries. I think American would assist Guyana and I doubt whether too many countries would rush to aid the belligerent Venezuela.
The more important question is whether Venezuala has begun its indoctrination of children yet, do they have a song, and a series of silly myths...do they have a “sense” or “feeling” , do they have 800 UN resolutions that the secretary General cant find...
Nov 14th, 2013 - 11:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0It's not a Latam land grab without them
The US would intervene in a second, with full force, at even a hint of an invasion by Venezuela. Legally, they probably wouldn't even need SC resolution (which may well be vetoed by Russia).
Nov 15th, 2013 - 11:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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