The US will increase military aid to Guyana amid tensions with neighboring Venezuela over the disputed Guayana Essequibo region, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The AP report did not detail how much the US will provide but said the US will help Guyana acquire new helicopters, a fleet of military drones, and radar technology for the first time.
In 2023, the US provided Guyana with about $2.7 million in total aid, including over $400,000 from the Pentagon’s International Military Education & Training program, which trains foreign militaries. Guyana is a small country with a population of only around 800,000. According to AP, the Caribbean nation’s military numbers less than 5,000 troops.
News of the new military aid came after US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer met with officials in Guyana. The US has been stepping up military cooperation with Guyana after Venezuelans voted in a referendum late last year to make the Essequibo region a Venezuelan state.
Venezuela and Guyana agreed in December not to use military force to resolve the dispute, but tensions remain high as Venezuela deployed 6,000 troops to its border with Guyana.
The resource-rich border territory is under Guyana’s control, but Venezuela has always disputed an 1899 American-British tribunal ruling that Essequibo belonged to the British Empire, which controlled Guyana at the time. In 1966, the opposing sides signed the Geneva Agreement that said they would pursue a mutually satisfactory solution to the dispute.
Tensions have risen over Essequibo in recent years as more oil discoveries have been made. The American energy giant ExxonMobil discovered massive oil reserves off the coast of Guyana in waters claimed by Venezuela and has been involved in a major offshore drilling project.
Diplomacy between the US and Venezuela recently broke down as the US reimposed oil sanctions that were briefly eased in response to the Venezuelan supreme court barring an opposition candidate from running. Venezuela has been under crippling US sanctions since 2019, when the US backed a coup that failed to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
“. . . but Venezuela has always disputed an 1899 American-British tribunal ruling that Essequibo belonged to the British Empire, which controlled Guyana at the time.”
Gosh, why would they dispute that? 🙄
Hey, maybe Joe the baby killer can get his rocks off with a brand new war!!!
Once again America is increasingly on the wrong side of history!
Where are they on the list behind Israel Ukraine, Taiwan….
Oh, waiting on the dictator loving team here to come out in full support for Maduro.
Because in the name of the Anti US movement, Maduro can invade and annex Guyana (lots of oil there) just like Putin did in Ukraine. Nothing wrong with that.
Oil is fading into a past that dictators want to keep in the present. Global climate collapse is no fake. Visualize noon temperatures of 600° and then rethink your shallow positions.
Global climate is legit but everything you said has nothing to do with my statement. Nonsense.
Almost sounded like an excuse and this is about oil just like in Ukraine.
Yes every part of the globe does have climate.
Here, Don, learn something, if you’re able to.
https://monthlyreview.org/press/repeated-attempts-at-a-coup-by-a-powerful-few-excerpt-extraordinary-threat/
Not reading your Anti US trash.
You loved Trump didn’t you?
Stay ignorant. If anyone is “anti-US,” it’s you…
Your boy Zelensky is your Dictator.
Zelensky was “killing his own people”.
Look at the google map of Venezuela and Columbia, which has recently freed itself from US totalitarian domination. Guyana proper is made possible by a river system… The river system of the Essequibo region also has a river transportation system and it borders Venezuela. England blocked that off from Venezuelan development way back in the last century.
The US borrows more money to destabilize Latin America and steal its resources for the rich thugs who have stolen north America from US citizens and has turned them into dispossessed renters indebted for their own education.
The corporatists who have stolen the US from its citizens are picking a fight with Latin America, Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Yemen and much of Africa. The US government is number one enemy and main security threat to all Americans. Organize. Quit buying corporatist goodies. Pay down credit cards.
It is Guyana who has asked the US for security cooperation/assistance for many years now.
Your argument is trash.
None of our business to spend more of our money for others instead of fixing our own country.
Another tripwire to enrich the Military/Weapons Industrial Complex.
Touché!
$h1t Stirrers, INC.