The US will carry out military flights in Guyana to deter Venezuela’s invasion
The United States said it would carry out military flights to Guyana on Thursday in a joint operation, as the South American country faces soaring tensions with neighboring Venezuela over a dispute over an oil-rich region.
“In collaboration with the Guyana Defense Force, the United States Southern Command will conduct flight operations within Guyana on December 7,” the US Embassy in Guyana said, noting that the flights are part of an “effort routine” to strengthen the security partnership between the two countries.
A border feud has recently flared up over the oil-rich Essequibo region, which Guyana has controlled for over a century, but which Venezuela also claims and has indicated its intention to occupy. Militarily there is no comparison between the two countries, with Venezuela largely armed with Russian and Chinese supplies, and Guyana which has neither an air force nor a serious navy and has very small land forces.
The long-standing dispute over Essequibo, which comprises about two-thirds of Guyanese territory, has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered oil there in 2015.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has stepped up the pressure in recent days after winning overwhelming support in a referendum on the fate of the Essequibo that was held on Sunday, even though the referendum was held in Venezuela and has no international significance.
125,000 of Guyana's 800,000 citizens live in Essequibo, but the region, and especially the sea waters in front of it, are very rich in oil which Georgetown hopes to exploit to bring prosperity to its citizens.
Litigation is underway at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to define the region's borders. A previous confrontation proved Guyana right, but was not recognized by Caracas.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
The article The US will carry out military flights in Guyana to deter Venezuela's invasion comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-effettueranno-voli-militari-in-guayana-per-dissuadere-linvasione-del-venezuela/ on Thu, 07 Dec 2023 17:04:07 +0000.