US to conduct military flights over Guyana as fears of a Venezuela invasion grow

The US showed strength in the skies over Guyana on Thursday as the Biden administration said it stood by the country amid growing fears that Venezuela was about to launch an invasion.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro upped the ante this week, ordering the withdrawal of maps and ordering state-owned companies to develop disputed oil and mineral deposits.

The dictator stepped up his rhetoric and slid toward war, saying Sunday’s referendum gave him a clear mandate to claim sovereignty over Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo region.

Late Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and said he had the “unwavering support” of the United States.

Hours later, in a sign of a swift diplomatic and military response, the US Embassy in the capital Georgetown announced that US Southern Command would conduct flight operations over the country along with the Guyana Defense Force.

The US has thrown its support behind Guyana as Venezuela moves troops close to the border and President Nicolas Maduro lays claim to the mineral-rich Essequibo region.

Venezuelan soldiers in different uniforms and with different weapons in Caracus, Venezuela, in 2017. Hundreds of people have been transferred close to the Guyana border in recent weeks.

“This exercise builds on regular interactions and operations to strengthen the security partnership between the United States and Guyana and strengthen regional cooperation,” the statement said.

He added that the two countries will continue to work to ensure air and maritime security.

“The United States will continue to fulfill its commitments as Guyana’s trusted security partner and promote regional cooperation and interoperability,” it added.

Although the flights are billed as exercises, no one can doubt that they are intended as a signal to Venezuela to retreat.

In recent weeks, heavily armed Venezuelan troops have massed along their eastern border, putting Guyanese forces on high alert.

Adding to the sense of crisis, a military helicopter carrying seven people disappeared near the border on Wednesday, although authorities say it disappeared in bad weather.

An invasion could drag other countries into a wider war in South America.

Brazil has sent hundreds of troops to its northern border and on Thursday morning the country’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on regional bodies to help find a peaceful solution.

“We don’t want or need a war in South America,” he said.

Maduro may have other ideas.

An aerial view of the Rupununi Savannah in western Guyana, near the border with Brazil and Venezuela. Essequibo is an oil-rich, disputed 160,000 square kilometer territory administered by Guyana but which Venezuelans voted to claim as their own in a referendum.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wants to annex three-quarters of neighboring Guyana

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and said he has the “unwavering support” of the United States as tensions rise in the region.

A man carries a new map of Venezuela showing the Essequibo territory, a large area of ​​land administered and controlled by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela, into the National Assembly building in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, December 6.

He appeared on television Tuesday to make his case for annexing nearly three-quarters of Guyana. He waved a map showing the Esequibo region under Caracas’ control.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reiterated his country’s ambitions to annex nearly three-quarters of neighboring, oil-rich Guyana, unveiling a televised map showing Guyana’s Esequibo region as being under the jurisdiction of Caracas.

“The world needs to know, the Republic of Guyana needs to know… Esequibo belongs to us,” he said.

Analysts say it could all be a patriotic bluff, a move to distract voters from the president’s unpopularity ahead of next year’s elections.

Guyana maintains that the boundary determined by the arbitration commission in 1899 is correct.

“We take this threat very seriously and have initiated a number of precautionary measures to ensure peace and stability in the region,” President Ali told The Associated Press.