This Friday the 29th arrives at the coasts of Guyana the British warship HMS Trent to participate in joint military exercises in the Caribbean amid a new spike in tension between the former British colony and its neighbor Venezuela for the eternal dispute they maintain over the region of the Essequibo.
LOOK: Guyana assures that it does not plan to take “offensive actions” against Venezuela
The UK Ministry of Defense had announced the ship’s dispatch on December 24 as “show of military and diplomatic support” to Georgetown.
The deployment of the HMS Trent, which is normally dedicated to combating pirates on the high seas and which had just completed an operation against drug trafficking in the Caribbean, has caused multiple reactions in Caracas.
From legislators who have condemned the arrival of the ship to the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino, who has called it “provocation” the arrival or to Nicolás Maduro himself, who considered “extremely serious” the situation.
HMS Trent arrives a couple of weeks after Venezuela and Guyana agreed not to threaten or use force against each other, in addition to “immediately establish a joint commission” for “discuss mutually agreed matters”, which at the time was seen as the way out of the crisis unleashed after the referendum called by Maduro on Essequibo.
The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, who acts as interlocutor between Caracas and Georgetown in this controversy, declared himself “very optimistic” to continue with “good spirit” the dialogue despite Venezuelan concerns.
In Venezuela, however, the situation is still considered “a direct threat to the peace and stability of the region” comparable to the establishment of the United States Southern Command in the disputed area in early December.
In the following graph created by Trade You can find out more details about HMS Trent.
