Nicolas Maduro has lashed out at Britain after HMS Trent was sent to the region (Image: PA)
Venezuela’s hard-left President Nicolas Maduro has lashed out at Britain in an extraordinary rant in which he warned Rishi Sunak not to “mess” with his country and branded the UK “a decadent, rotten, ex-empire”.
Mr Maduro ordered Venezuela’s armed forces to conduct defensive exercises in the Eastern Caribbean after the UK sent a warship toward Guyana’s territorial waters in the wake of a border dispute between the South American neighbours.
In yesterday’s nationally televised address, Mr Maduro said that 6,000 Venezuelan troops - including air and naval forces - will take part in drills off his nation’s eastern coast, close to the border with Guyana, a Commonwealth nation.
Mr Maduro called the impending arrival of the British ship HMS Trent to Guyana’s shores a threat to his country, claiming the vessel’s deployment violated a recent agreement between Venezuela and Guyana.
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He said: "We believe in diplomacy, in dialogue, in peace. But no one should threaten Venezuela, no one should mess with Venezuela.
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Irfan Ali is the President of Guyana (Image: PA)
“We are men of peace, we are a people of peace, but we are warriors and this threat is unacceptable for any sovereign country.
"The threat of the decadent, rotten, ex-empire of the United Kingdom is unacceptable."
Speaking last week during a visit to Guyana, David Rutley, UK Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas Territories, said: “The border issue has been settled for over 120 years. Sovereign borders must be respected wherever they are in the world.
“We welcome the recent agreement by Venezuela in St Vincent to refrain from the use of force and any further escalation.
“The UK will continue to work with partners in the region, as well as through international bodies, to ensure the territorial integrity of Guyana is upheld.”
Venezuela and Guyana have fallen out over the Essequibo, a sparsely populated region the size of Florida with vast oil deposits off its shores.
The region has been under Guyana’s control for decades, but in December, Venezuela relaunched its historical claim through a controversial referendum in which it asked voters in the country whether the Essequibo should be turned into a Venezuelan state, and in which 95 percent voted yes, according to the left-wing government.
As tensions escalated, the leaders of both countries met in the Caribbean island of St Vincent and signed an agreement which said they would solve their dispute through nonviolent means.
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The dispute centres on the Essequibo region of Guyana (Image: Getty)
During the talks, however, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said his nation reserved its right to work with its partners to ensure the defence of his country.
On Thursday, Guyanese officials described the visit of HMS Trent as a planned activity aimed at improving the nation’s defence capabilities and said the ship’s visit will continue as scheduled.
Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters: “Nothing that we do or have done is threatening Venezuela.”
HMS Trent is a patrol and rescue ship that was recently used to intercept drug traffickers off the West Coast of Africa. It can accommodate up to 30 sailors and a contingent of 18 marines, and is equipped with 30 mm cannons and a landing pad for helicopters and drones.
Nicolas Maduro speaks after the controversial referendum (Image: Getty)
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The ship had been sent to Barbados in early December to intercept drug traffickers, but its mission was changed on December 24, when it was sent to Guyana. Authorities did not specify when it was expected to arrive off Guyana's shores.
The UK’s Defence Ministry said the ship would be conducting joint operations with Guyana’s defence forces.
The nation of 800,000 people has a small military made up of 3,000 soldiers, 200 sailors and four small patrol boats known as Barracudas.
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Venezuela says it was the victim of a land theft conspiracy in 1899, when Guyana was a British colony and arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States decided the boundary. The US represented Venezuela in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain.
Venezuelan officials contend Americans and Europeans colluded to cheat their country out of the land. They also argue that an agreement between Venezuela, Britain and the colony of British Guiana signed in 1966 to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration.
Guyana maintains the initial accord is legal and binding and asked the United Nations’ top court in 2018 to rule it as such, but a decision is years away. The century-old dispute was recently reignited with the discovery of oil in Guyana.
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