Tensions escalated over the weekend of Sat March 1st when a Venezuelan coast guard vessel entered Guyana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). President Ali raised concerns at a news conference, reporting that the vessel approached legally operating assets in Guyana’s waters and transmitted a radio message claiming they were in “disputed international waters,” despite being within Guyana’s maritime territory.
Trinidad and Tobago interim Prime Minister Stuart Young says his country is in support of Guyana’s sovereignty in the territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.
“Trinidad and Tobago’s position is that we fully support Guyana’s sovereignty and we advocate for, and encourage the application of, and abiding by, the Argyle accord,”
The test invasion on Saturday followed an attack by armed men two weeks prior, suspected to be Venezuelan pirates, operating in the border Cuyuni River, and who exchanged gunfire with a Guyanese military patrol, injuring six soldiers, two of them seriously.
Maduro’s office has responded to the accusation with a statement saying, “Irfaan Ali pretends to become the Caribbean’s Zelenskyy to generate conflict in our region through dangerous provocations. Full of inaccuracies, falsehoods and contradictions, in his eagerness to disrupt the peace and tranquillity of our region by sowing the seeds of a dangerous conflict. Venezuela categorically repudiates the baseless remarks of the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, who lies brazenly when he claims that units of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela are violating the maritime territory of Guyana, hiding the fact that those waters do not form part of Guyanese territory since it is a maritime zone pending delimitation in accordance with international law.”
Venezuela’s actions were also condemned by the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere which said that Venezuela was in violation, and called the incident “unacceptable”. The Organization of American States said, “Such acts of intimidation constitute a clear violation of international law, undermine regional stability, and threaten the principles of peaceful coexistence between nations”; while Caricom called on Venezuela to urgently remove the naval vessel in question, as it reminded both countries of their obligation under international law to avoid unnecessary confrontational actions.
