The Minister for Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, warned that regional peace in Latin America and the Caribbean is in danger due to the presence of the Southern Command in the Essequibo territory.
During an event for the 15th anniversary of the services of the Ministry of Defense, in Fort Tiuna, Caracas, he warned that the United States Government insists once again on its desire to get involved in the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, by developing military exercises in the area:
“Nobody has invited the United States to interfere in the affairs that belong entirely to Venezuela and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Nobody has invited them, but they want to permanently command military exercises on the (Atlantic) coast, in the undelimited waters of the Essequibo territory and they want to get involved irresponsibly by carrying military means, doing exercises,” he indicated.
This situation, he pointed out, places not only our country, but the Latin American region in general, at risk:
“This zone of peace is in danger due to the presence of the Southern Command in the lands and waters to be delimited between Venezuela and Guyana (…) by creating a difficult situation that goes against the regional peace that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have signed very vehemently to declare our region as a zone of peace,” emphasized the minister.
He reiterated that, under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, both countries will seek a practical and satisfactory solution between the parties and in accordance with the provisions of the Argyle Agreement signed last December between the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; and from Guyana, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, at a meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:
“We are going to be with a firm presence in our sovereign maritime space, with military deployment and acting proportionally to any provocation that is intended to be carried out in that maritime territory,” he stressed.
In that sense, he recalled that the President of the Republic and commander in chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, Nicolás Maduro, has been very firm and has given very specific instructions to the operational strategic commander (Domingo Hernández) and to the Minister of Defense himself, so that the military deployment remains in the maritime zone.
For this reason, he urged the FANB to increase operational readiness. “It is a constitutional task that we must fulfill: military defense, participation in national development and the maintenance of internal order,” he said.
