Venezuela responds with patrols on the Atlantic front
Ships from the United States and Guyana in the combined exercises. Photo: Guyana Defense Force
14/01/2021 | Caracas
Carlos E. Hernndez
The United States and Guyana conducted a combined naval exercise and signed a defense cooperation agreement. This is taking place amid growing tensions between the English-speaking South American nation and Venezuela over the Venezuelan claim to Essequibo territory.
The combined naval exercise was conducted on 9 January off the coast of Guyana. He US Coast Guard unfolded cutter Piatra Uscgc (WMSL-758), while Guyana Coast Guard participated with smaller patrol boats, type 957Y and Metal shark 38 Defiant.
He Piatra Uscgc is a class patrol ship The legend built by the shipyard Huntington Ingalls Industries, from Pascagoula, Mississippi, and delivered in November 2020. It travels 4,500 tons and measures 127 meters in length, 16 in beam and 6.9 meters in draft. The armament consists of a cannon Mk-110 57mm, single barrel Phalange Block 1B 20 mm machine guns, two 12.7 mm machine guns and two machine guns M240 7.62 mm. It has a flight deck and a hangar with the capacity to accommodate two helicopters Airbus MH-65C Dolphin MCH. Its crew consists of 120 crew members.
Compared to Guyanese units, the country’s Coast Guard has five types of patrol boats 957Y donated by China in April 2017 and February 2019, as reported Infodefensa.com, while the seven motor boats Shark 38 Defiant available, were received during 2014 and March 2017.
The new defense agreement
At a later date, on January 11, the commander United States Southern Command (US Southern Command), admiral Craig S. Faller, visited Guyana to sign a Purchase and maintenance agreement with the head of Mayor of State from Defense Force, brigadier Godfrey Bess, the purpose of which is to simplify the process of exchanging goods or services “in order to support effective and mutually beneficial defense cooperation”.
The United States and Guyana have recently strengthened their ties in the military. In September 2020, they signed Agreement for riders, focused on cooperation in the naval area, which includes performing combined exercises such as the one carried out in the previous days. In addition, in the same month, the United States donated engines and parts for its boats to the Guyana Coast Guard, as reported. Infodefensa.com.
Venezuela’s reaction
A new incident was presented in the 159,000 km Venezuelan claim of the Essequibo Territory, now in the possession of Guyana, former English Guiana, which is why he “inherited” it from the United Kingdom. Venezuela was dispossessed of that territory in 1899 by an arbitration tribunal set up in Paris, whose judges were British, American and Russian and who were not allowed to participate in the deliberations.
In 1966, Venezuela and Guyana signed an agreement in Geneva by which they agreed to seek a solution to the territorial dispute under the auspices of the United Nations. However, in January 2018, the UN, at Guyana’s request, decided to refer the case to the International Court of Justice, a body that Venezuela does not recognize in the context of the request, and in a recent decision, that body recognized jurisdiction in claiming Venezuelan territory for Essequibo territory, which has aggravated relations between the two countries because the Geneva Agreement is unilaterally unknown.
In this order of events, on January 8, the Venezuelan government, in order to strengthen the territorial claim, decreed the establishment of Strategic development area of the Atlantic front, which is intended to ensure the “protection and safeguarding of jurisdiction” in that territory.
In addition, it was ordered to increase the active presence of military units by permanent patrol in all areas of the Atlantic front, while, through the Minister The power of the people for defense, The combined naval maneuvers between the US and Guyana and the presence of the commander of the Southern Command in Guyana were denounced and rejected.
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