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Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, warned Britain “don’t mess” with his country as he deployed thousands of troops in response to a Royal Navy ship sent to the region.
Mr Maduro called Britain a “decadent, rotten, ex-empire” as he ordered troops into defensive manoeuvres ahead of HMS Trent arriving to support neighbouring Guyana in a territorial row.
Britain said on Sunday that it would divert the patrol vessel to the former British colony, amid the South American country’s simmering dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region.
A Guyana foreign ministry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the ship was due to arrive on Friday and would be in its territory for “less than a week” for open sea defence exercises. The ship will not dock in Georgetown.
Mr Maduro said he was launching “a joint action of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom against peace and the sovereignty of our country”.
The television broadcast accompanying Mr Maduro’s announcement showed fighter jets taking part in the Venezuelan exercise, as well as ships and ocean patrol vessels.
The Venezuelan government earlier asked Guyana, in a statement, “to take immediate action for the withdrawal of the HMS Trent, and to refrain from involving military powers in the territorial controversy”.
Mr Maduro claims that Essequibo – which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory – is Venezuelan land. The decades-old dispute has flared since massive oil deposits were found in its waters.
Escalating tensions have raised fears of a potential conflict in the region over the remote area of 160,000 sqkm (62,000 sqm).
Mr Maduro and Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana, agreed at a meeting earlier this month not to resort to force to settle the dispute.
