Venezuela Deploys Troops to East Caribbean Coast, Citing Guyana Threat

Venezuela has decided to deploy more than 5,000 soldiers on its eastern Caribbean coast after neighboring Guyana received a warship from the UK amid a dispute over the Essequibo territory, according to President Nicolas Maduro.

“Venezuela has the right to defend itself, to tranquility, to peace,” Maduro said Thursday on state TV, while accusing Guyana of violating an agreement signed two weeks ago to continue talks over the oil-rich territory without the use of arms. “We do not accept provocations, threats from anything or anyone.”

Venezuela made a similar move in 2018 to halt ships working for Exxon Mobil Corp off in the area. Today’s actions, which Maduro said were just the first stage of a wider plan, could lead to an escalation of the long-dormant dispute between the neighboring countries over the Essequibo, a region roughly the size of Florida that’s controlled by Guyana but claimed by Venezuela since the 19th century.