SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Guyana’s president told the Associated Press on Wednesday that his country is taking all necessary steps to protect itself from Venezuela, which has ordered its state-owned companies to explore and exploit oil and minerals in the vast Essequibo region , which Guyana considers as its own.
Asked if he had asked for military support, President Irfaan Ali said his government was reaching out to allies and regional partners with whom Guyana has partial defense agreements to protect Essequibo. The region makes up two thirds of the country.
“We take this threat very seriously and have initiated a number of precautionary measures to ensure peace and stability in this region,” Ali said in the brief telephone interview. He noted that the Guyana Armed Forces are also speaking with counterparts in other countries, but did not say which ones.
“If Venezuela continues to behave in such a reckless and adventurous manner, the region must respond,” he said. “And that’s what we’re building. We are building a regional response.”
Ali spoke a day after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he would immediately issue operating licenses for exploration and exploitation in Essequibo and ordered the creation of local subsidiaries of Venezuelan public companies, including oil giant PDVSA and mining conglomerate Corporación Venezolana de Guayana.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, but years of mismanagement and economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Maduro’s government have hurt PDVSA and subsidiaries.
Maduro also announced the creation of a comprehensive defensive operational zone for the disputed area. It would be comparable to special military commandos operating in certain regions of Venezuela.
“Venezuela’s announcements completely violate international law,” Ali said. “And any country that so blatantly defies important international bodies should be a concern not only for Guyana but for the entire world.” He said Venezuela’s actions could seriously affect the stability and peaceful coexistence of the region.
Guyana expects to raise the issue at the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
The president said in a statement late Tuesday that his administration had contacted the United States, neighboring Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, the U.N. secretary general and the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Central and South America and in the Caribbean monitored.
Ali also accused Venezuela of defying a ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands last week. It ordered Venezuela not to take any action until the court rules on the countries’ competing claims, a process that is expected to take years.
The Venezuelan government condemned Ali’s statement, accused Guyana of acting irresponsibly and reportedly gave the US Southern Command the green light to enter the Essequibo region.
Venezuela called on Guyana to resume dialogue and put aside its “erratic, threatening and risky behavior.”
On Wednesday, the United Nations issued a statement highlighting the International Court of Justice’s recent ruling that bars parties from taking any action that “could aggravate or prolong the dispute or make its resolution more difficult.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly supports the use of exclusively peaceful means to resolve international disputes,” the world body said.
The Venezuelan government rejected the United Nations’ comments and said it did not recognize the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
The diplomatic dispute over the Essequibo region has eased over the years, but intensified in 2015 after ExxonMobil announced it had found large amounts of oil off its coast.
Venezuela insists the region belongs to it because Essequibo was within its borders during Spanish colonial times. Venezuela rejects the border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899, when Guyana was still under British rule.
The dispute escalated after Maduro held a referendum on Sunday in which Venezuelans approved his claim to sovereignty over Essequibo.
Ali described the referendum as a “failure” and said Guyana was preparing for all eventualities.