Post #1439

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered large-scale military exercises around the disputed resource-rich Essequibo region following the arrival of a British warship to neighboring Guyana. In a televised broadcast on Thursday, Maduro announced “a joint defensive action of the entire Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB)” along the eastern Caribbean coast and Atlantic front “in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom against peace and the sovereignty of our country.” According to the Venezuelan Defense Ministry, the operation will involve over 5,600 military personnel and will encompass patrolling land, air, and sea areas alongside the disputed Essequibo territory. Maduro’s order came as Britain’s Defense Ministry announced Sunday it would send the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Trent to Guyana “as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment.” An anonymous source told AFP the war vessel would arrive on December 29 but would not dock on Georgetown and would stay for less than a week for open sea defense exercises. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-military-conducts-exercise-in-response-to-uk-warship-provocation/