A senior official from the American Department of Defense is making a two-day visit to Guyana, entangled in the Essequibo crisis, an oil-rich territory claimed by its neighbor Venezuela, the United States announced in a press release.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs Daniel Erikson is scheduled to meet with representatives of the Guyanese government and military, as well as members of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) headquartered in Georgetown.
“His visit to Guyana highlights the importance the United States attaches to the bilateral defense and security partnership […] to support regional stability,” says the text from the US Embassy in Georgetown.
Guyanese authorities have not yet commented on the official’s arrival, which comes a month after American military exercises in this small English-speaking country in northeastern South America. Venezuela had described these exercises as “provocation” and raised fears of an armed escalation of the territorial conflict.
Without specifically mentioning Mr. Erikson’s visit, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday accused his neighbors of acting “under the mandate of the gringos.”
According to him, Guyana “acts like the former British Guyana, today a colony of the British under the mandate of gringos, who walk around as if at home and do what they want. Make no mistake about Venezuela,” Mr. Maduro said.
During a meeting between the two presidents of Venezuela and Guyana on December 14, the two countries pledged not to use force or take actions to increase tension.
However, the arrival at the end of December of a British warship for “routine exercises” led Venezuela to launch border maneuvers of more than 5,000 soldiers.
Tension between Caracas and Georgetown rose after the launch of oil tenders by Guyana in September, then the referendum organized in response on December 3 in Venezuela on the annexation of the Essequibo, a territory of 160,000 km2 rich in oil and natural resources, administered by Georgetown and claimed by Venezuela.
Some 125,000 people, or a fifth of Guyana’s population, live in Essequibo, which covers two-thirds of the country’s land area.
Venezuela maintains that the Essequibo River should be the natural border, as in 1777 during the time of the Spanish Empire. Guyana argues that the border, dating from the English colonial era, was ratified in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris. What London also defends.