Shipment of the ship takes place in the dispute with Venezuela over Essequibo; Delivery is scheduled for January 2024
The United Kingdom announced this Sunday (December 24, 2023) that it will send a warship to Guyana in January 2024. The ship is being sent amid the dispute with Venezuela over Essequibo, on the border between the SouthSouth countries. American. The information comes from the Portal news agency.
The ship's arrival was to be accompanied by a visit to Guyana by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. The aim is to offer support to the country, which is a former British colony.
On December 14, Guyana and Venezuela signed a joint statement agreeing to resolve the standoff in accordance with international law. They pledged not to use force in the dispute over the Essequibo region and not to directly or indirectly threaten each other's territorial sovereignty “under any circumstances.”
“O [navio do tipo] “HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of operations in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment,” a British spokesman said.
Understand the case
Venezuelans voted in a referendum on December 3 to annex part of Guyana's territory. The measure, which is consultative in nature, was announced by Maduro on November 10th.
The dispute between the countries, which has been going on for more than a century, is related to the Essequibo or Guayana Essequiba region. Following the result, the Venezuelan government must decide on strategies to annex the territory.
Essequibo has an area of 160,000 km² and is administered by Guyana. The area accounts for 74% of the neighboring country's area, is rich in oil and minerals and has access to the Atlantic Ocean.
The referendum asked five questions in which Venezuelans chose between the answers “yes” and “no.” They were approved by Venezuela's CNE (National Electoral Council) in October.
These are questions about the Paris Report of 1899 a measure resulting from a treaty signed in Washington in 1897 that established the territory as part of Guyana, then a British colony, and established a dividing line for the territory.
The questions also relate to the 1966 Geneva Agreement in which the UK recognized Venezuela's claim to Essequibo and classified the situation as negotiable.
One of them also questions the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to judge the case. The United Nations judicial body in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled on Friday (December 1) that Venezuela cannot take steps to annex the territory.
According to the decision, Nicolás Maduro's government must “refrain from any action that could alter the current situation in the disputed territory.” Here is the full sentence (PDF 227 kB).
The government of Guyana classified the measure as “provocative, unlawful, null and without effect under international law”. He also accused the Venezuelan leader of an international crime by attempting to weaken the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Guyana. You can find the full statement here (PDF 19 kB).
The country also adheres to the Washington Treaty of 1897. “For more than six decades, the border has been internationally recognized, accepted and respected by Venezuela, Guyana and the international community as the land border between the two states,” the government said.