Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the
United States has installed “secret military bases” in the oil rich
disputed region of Essequibo.
Maduro made the claim on Thursday while speaking at a ceremony commemorating a recent law defending Guyana Essequibo.
The 62,000-square-mile oil- and mineral-rich area around the Essequibo
River is at the center of a territorial dispute between Venezuela and a
former British colony, Guyana.
The Latin Amercican leader said: “We have information proving that,
in the territory of Guyana Essequibo, temporarily administered by
Guyana, secret military bases of the [US] Southern Command… a body of
the CIA, have been installed”
RT reports: The bases constitute “aggression” against the people of southern and eastern Venezuela, and were built “to prepare for an escalation against Venezuela,” he added.
The US Southern Command, part of the Department of Defense, maintains
a Security Cooperation Office in Guyana, and serves as a military
consultant to the Guyana Defense Force, providing military support and
training.
Following a national referendum at the beginning of December, Caracas
laid claim to Guayana Esequiba – a mostly forested region that
Venezuela claims to have owned for over a century. Guyana has protested,
noting that the area amounts to two-thirds of its internationally
recognized territory, and has asked the international community for
help.
The dispute over the Essequibo area intensified in 2015 after
US-based energy giant ExxonMobil discovered oil deposits there. After
December’s referendum, US forces held joint US-Guyana military
exercises. The British Royal Navy deployed patrol ship HMS Trent to
Guyana in January to show its backing for the country.
According to Maduro, the disputed region is being controlled by the
Southern Command, the CIA, and ExxonMobil, which are seeking to seize
Venezuelan resources.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Planet Today
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.planet-today.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.