'HMS Trent' will depart this month for Guyana after Christmas
On Sunday (24), the United Kingdom announced it would send a troop ship to Guyana, a former British colony that controls the Essequibo region, the target of a long-running territorial conflict with neighboring Venezuela. .
For more than a century, Venezuela has claimed sovereignty over the 160,000 km² Essequibo, which is rich in natural resources – notably oil, discovered in 2015, and tensions rose when Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, polled the population. Essequibo on December 3rd.
Guyana currently has full control of the region and argues that an arbitration court in Paris established the boundaries in 1899, when the country was still a British colony.
An official statement from the British Ministry of Defense said, “'HMS Trent' will depart this month for our regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana for continued engagements in the region.” The ship is expected to take part in military exercises after Christmas, along with other Guyanese allies not named by the British broadcaster, the BBC reported.
Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez responded to the news through his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
“Would a warship be separated at sea? Later? What about a commitment to good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence? An agreement not to threaten and use force mutually under any circumstances?”
Citing the “commitment of good neighbors”, Padrino López referred to the agreement signed on December 14, during the first meeting between the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and Guyana, Irfan Ali, who were encouraged by Brazil to mediate the conflict diplomatically.
“We are alert to these provocations that threaten the peace and stability of the Caribbean and our America!” The Venezuelan military chief concluded.
