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Maduro Orders 'Defensive' Military Drills After UK Deploys British Warship Off Guyana Coast

© AP Photo / Matias DelacroixVenezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with his ministers at the Humboldt Hotel at El Avila mountain in La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with his ministers at the Humboldt Hotel at El Avila mountain in La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.12.2023
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CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered on Thursday the armed forces to launch "the activation of a joint defensive action" in response to the deployment of a British warship off the coast of Guyana.
"I have ordered the activation of a joint defensive action of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces" off the coast of Essequibo, he said in a state televised broadcast, but did not provide more information.
Earlier this month, the British media reported, citing a British defense ministry spokesman, that the United Kingdom would deploy a patrol ship off Guyana's coast as a sign of support for the state in the territorial dispute over Essequibo. The head of Venezuela's defense ministry, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, called it a provocation.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil had previously called on his British counterpart David Cameron not to interfere in the affairs of Latin American and Caribbean countries, and to mind his own business.
“From Venezuela, we ask the infamous failure David Cameron, foreign minister of the former imperial power of the United Kingdom, to take his hands off our Latin America and the Caribbean and to take care of his own affairs, which are very complicated,” Gil wrote on social media.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference a day after the consultative referendum on Venezuelan sovereignty over the Essequibo region controlled by neighbouring Guyana, at the CNE headquarters in Caracas on December 4, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.12.2023
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Maduro Signs Decrees to Incorporate Essequibo Into Venezuela
Venezuela's territorial dispute with Britain and Guyana, a former British colony, has been ongoing since the 19th century. The Bolivarian government stepped up its actions after Guyanese authorities began handing over fossil-rich areas of the disputed shelf to oil companies for development.
Caracas held a referendum on December 3 in which an absolute majority of participants supported the annexation of the territory west of the Essequibo River, and began legislative work to legally back its actions.
Guyana's President Irfaan Ali has since said that the country views Caracas' actions as a threat to national security and intends to appeal to the UN Security Council as well as its international partners. During a recent news conference, Ali did not rule out that Guyana may go for a military base for its allies in the region, and on December 7, the US Army's Southern Command carried out "flight operations" in the country.
The leaders of Venezuela and Guyana, following recent talks on the territorial dispute over Essequibo, pledged not to use force under any circumstances and to resolve it in accordance with the 1966 Geneva Agreement.
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