Updated 11th Feb 2024 :
Continued buildup of Venezuelan military on Guyana Border
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) provides an excellent summary of the current situation on the Venezuelan / Guyana border. Venezuela speaking diplomatically whilst carrying out military exercises and building up forces on disputed border island of Ankoko.
31 Dec 2023: Bloomberg reports that HMS Trent has been deployed to Guyana as the threat grows of an invasion of the former British colony by neighbouring Venezuela.
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| Bloomberg on "X" 30 Dec 2023 - HMS Trent |
Al Jazeera - arrival of British Warship for defence excercises.
Politico - Venezuela says hostile act of provocation by UK.
The risk of conflict.
There is a small but dangerous risk of war between Venezuela and Guyana . So says the Centre for Strategic and International studies which provides an excellent summary dated Dec 8th 2023:
"The authoritarian government of Venezuela held a referendum on December 3, 2023, concerning the Essequibo, a large region controlled by neighboring Guyana but claimed by both nations. Despite an anemic turnout, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has claimed that he now has a mandate to annex the region, significantly raising tensions with his smaller neighbor and putting the militaries of both countries on high alert. There is a small but real risk of military conflict between the two South American nations."
Other reports are as follows -
Al jazeera - Tense talks . Leaders agree to not use force.
The Hill - Venezeula looks to launch a Putin style war.
France24 - 6 December 2023 - parties will keep communicating . Brasil re-enforces it's borders.
About Guyana
Guyana is a country covering 215,000 square km, of South America situated on the Northern Atlantic coast. It is roughly the same size as the UK. Control of the Esequibo region (about 25% of the whole country) is disputed by Venezeula.
Population of about 800,000.
Capital city Located on the North Atlantic coast is Georgetown.
Languages: English and Guyanan Creole
Religions: Roughly 64% Christian (mainly Protestant Pentecostal), 24% Hindu, Sunni Muslim 7% and others.
Note: Sunni Muslims - Believe that after the passing of the prophet Muhammed (pbuh) in 632CE the rightful Muslim ruler (called the caliphate) of the Muslim community (known as Ummah) should be chosen by consensus (Abu Bakr). But the Shia Muslims believe that the rightful ruler by bloodline was Muhammed's cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib and his descendants. Saudi Arabia is Sunni , and Iran is Shia.
Currency: £1 sterling = approx $2.67 Guyanese dollars.
Past History:
1300 ish - semi-nomadic Amerindian tribes called the Warraus.
1498 - Christopher Colombus sights Guyana.
1580 - Dutch set up trading posts and from 1620, Dutch West India Co imports African slaves to work on it's sugar plantations.
1780-1813 - Ruled in turn by Dutch, French and British.
1814 - During Napoleonic Wars, Britain colonises Guyana . After abolition of slavery, many Indian workers arrive.
1885 - 1899 Venezuela lays claims to two-thirds of Guyana west of the Essequibo river, but international arbitration rules in favour of Guyana in 1899.
1966 - independence from UK. Also, Venezuela illegally occupies part of Ankoko island on the border with Guyana.
Noteable recent events
Oil - As reoported by the Harvard International Review The giant Exxon-Mobil company discovered and enormous oil field just off the Guyanan coast in 2015. 11 Billion barrels of it making Guyana 4th largest offshore producer.
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| Harvard Int Review - 23 Sept 2023 |
Ethnic tensions and the small population's lack of legal structure and little experience with sudden wealth may cause problems. HIR says that Guyana politics is divided along ethic lines - descendants of African slaves versus descendants of Indian indentured workers (indentured means a kind of debt bondage).
The Stabroek News introduces itself as Guyana':s most trusted newspaper . Many of the road and place names illustrate some of it's Dutch and British historical connections. And it carries news stories which will be familiar to newsreaders all over the world.
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| Stabroek News -26 Dec 2023 |