US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Linda Thomas-Greenfield insisted Monday that her country supported Guyana's stance in the dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region with Venezuela but denied that the President Joseph Biden administration was eyeing any military settlement in the region.
Guyanese authorities have allocated US$ 201 million to update the South American country's military equipment as tensions with Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo mount. Helicopters, maritime surveillance vessels, and at least one drone will be acquired, President Irfaan Ali announced. Ali said his government would focus on technology items for the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) and on cooperation with allied countries.
A total of 28 armored vehicles have been deployed to the State of Roraima as the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes additional precautions amid mounting tension between Venezuela and Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo region, Agencia Brasil reported.
After more than five hours of conversations, diplomatic delegations from Venezuela and Guyana agreed on Thursday in Brasilia to discuss the dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo territory peacefully. The gathering at the Itamaraty Palace resulted from talks between Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Irfaan Ali on December 14 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Diplomatic teams from Venezuela and Guyana are to discuss Thursday in Brazil the dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo area in control of the latter since the 1890s.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro Tuesday said during his appearance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that oil- extracting in the Essequibo area held by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela should not go on. He also reckoned the dispute was on the verge of becoming a military conflict.
Despite criticizing a judge's decision to hand over to the United States the Emtrasur Boeing 747-300 freighter aircraft seized in Buenos Aires, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry also issued Wednesday a declaration insisting that the Malvinas [Falkland] Islands were Argentine.
The United Kingdom said Venezuelan President Nicolàs Maduro's decision to up his country's military readiness over the Essequibo dispute with Guyana was unjustified. The Bolivarian forces deployed over 5,000 troops in response to the arrival in the area of the Royal Navy's HMS Trent.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered preventive measures be taken as the Royal Navy's HMS Trent was reaching the area to side with Guyana amid tensions over the disputed oil-rich Essequibo area.
Amid escalating concerns about the Essequibo crisis with neighboring Venezuela, Guyana has been included in the list of greatest risk for maritime transport drafted by insurers Lloyd's Market Association for vessels visiting offshore facilities in the former British colony's Exclusive Economic Zone, beyond territorial waters.