Guyana boosts security, engages US to defend land from Venezuela

Guyana said it’s intensifying security measures and engaging the US military to help it protect the oil-rich region of Essequibo, describing Venezuela’s intentions to grant oil exploration licenses in the area as a threat to its territorial integrity.

The country will seek to bring the matter to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, asking that the body takes appropriate action, President Irfaan Ali said in a statement sent by the foreign ministry, Bloomberg  reports.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro further escalated tensions with Guyana over Essequibo by ordering Tuesday evening that state-owned oil and mineral companies start granting exploration licenses for deposits in the region.

“We will not allow our territory to be violated nor the development of our country to be stymied by this desperate threat,” Ali said in the statement, adding that Guyana’s defence force is on full alert and has engaged its military counterparts, including the US Southern Command.

Guyana is set to join the UN Security Council for a two-year term in January. Before that, it needs a sitting member of the council to introduce on its behalf a draft proposal that would be binding if approved by the body.

Stronger Rhetoric

In a televised statement, Maduro also ordered foreign oil companies working in Essequibo to withdraw, asserting his right to do so after Venezuelan voters backed plans to regain control of the territory in a referendum Sunday. Guyana has insisted that Essequibo is within its borders, and the matter is currently being analyzed by the International Court of Justice, though Maduro has said he doesn’t recognize its jurisdiction.

Maduro hasn’t yet dispatched any military forces to carry out his demands. On Tuesday, he said he’d create a military unit for the disputed territory but that it would be based in a neighbouring Venezuelan state.

“I propose a special law to prohibit all companies that work under Guyana concessions from any transaction,” Maduro said. “They have three months to withdraw” once his proposal is approved, he said.

The tension with Guyana is also part of Maduro’s efforts to whip up domestic support ahead of Venezuela’s presidential election next year, analysts including Nicholas Watson of Teneo Holdings have said. By that measure, last weekend’s referendum fell short. Polling places appeared empty, though the government officially said almost half the voting population had participated.

While Venezuela and Guyana have disputed the sparsely populated territory of Essequibo since the 19th century, the discussion has grown more heated in recent years following massive oil discoveries off Guyana’s coast by companies including Exxon Mobil Corp.

In September, Guyana’s government said it would award concessions for the exploration of new oil blocks by the end of the year, infuriating Maduro, whose government has said some of those blocks are in waters that have not been delimited or belong to Venezuela.