Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. Photo: AFP/Federico Parra.
Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López stated that Venezuela is on alert about threats that may put the peace of the Caribbean and Latin America at risk. In this way he responded to the United Kingdom’s provocations regarding the Essequibo dispute. The Venezuelan defense minister’s statements were in response to the UK’s announcement of sending a warship to Guyana as a “gesture of support.”
Minister Vladimir Padrino López pointed out that this new threat “intends to destroy good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence.”
¿Un buque de guerra en aguas por delimitar? ¿Y entonces? ¿Y el compromiso con la buena vecindad y la convivencia pacífica? ¿Y el acuerdo de no amenazarse y utilizar la fuerza mutuamente en ninguna circunstancia?
¡Seguimos alertas ante estas provocaciones que ponen en riesgo la… pic.twitter.com/7nqifgGULn
— Vladimir Padrino L. (@vladimirpadrino) December 24, 2023
“A warship in undelimited waters? What is this? What about the commitment to good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence? And the agreement not to threaten and use mutual force under any circumstances?” Padrino López questioned, referring to the recent agreements reached by President Nicolás Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali at the Argyle Summit in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Padrino made this comment after the United Kingdom announced that the British naval patrol ship, HMS Trent, will take part in joint naval exercises with Guyana after Christmas.
“HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment,” a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defense said.
The ship has a crew of 65 people, a maximum speed of 24 knots, and a range of 5,000 nautical miles. It is armed with a 30mm cannon, a contingent of UK Marines, and can deploy Merlin helicopters and drones.
The announcement is another example of provocation in the controversy over Essequibo, although Guyana and Venezuela recently agreed in a bilateral presidential meeting to “avoid any escalation of tension and the use of military force.” Guyana is not complying with the agreement as reflected by its actions.
“After more than five years of multiform aggression against Venezuela by the United States and its European satellites, including direct threats of military intervention, the Venezuelan people, Chavismo and its civic-military union have shown that they are not intimidated by military threats and provocations,” an analyst said to Orinoco Tribune.
“Guyana’s recurrent provocations using the US Southern Command and the British military to threaten the Venezuelan people are nothing compared to what Venezuela has endured in recent years,” the analyst added. “These provocations do not represent a significant threat for Venezuela, so Guyana’s strategy to use its circumstantial ‘friends’ that are only interested in exploiting Guyana’s resources almost for free, would not have its desired outcome and will only add to the dossier of provocations that Venezuela will combat with its diplomatic strategy.”
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
