The head of the US Southern Command, Laura Richardson, expects that the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana will be resolved diplomatically and will not escalate into a military conflict.
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“I would like to hope that <…> this (the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana) will be resolved diplomatically,” Richardson said at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
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She was answering a question about whether this territorial dispute could escalate into a military conflict. In addition, the Pentagon spokeswoman argued that it was inappropriate for Venezuela to “rattling sabers” towards Guyana.
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Earlier, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the United States is militarizing the Latin American region and preparing Guyana for an attack on Venezuela, just as they prepared Ukraine against Russia. He said that “12 CIA bases and 14 secret [US Southern Command] bases have already been deployed in Guyana,” and promised to “provide evidence of this in due course.” Maduro emphasized that “just as they (the United States) prepared Ukraine against Russia, they prepared Guyana for this.” Maduro made this statement amid an escalation of the territorial conflict with Guyana.
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The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the ownership of the territory with an area of 159,500 square meters. km, located west of the Essequibo River and called Guyana-Essequibo, has been going on for more than 100 years. The conflict escalated due to the discovery of large oil fields in 2015 and the granting of a concession by Guyana to ExxonMobil for oil production on the shelf, the boundaries of which are not delimited.
