The US sends a senior military official to Guyana to see what to do in the confrontation with Venezuela
As tensions with Venezuela continue to simmer over President Nicolas Maduro's attempt to annex oil-rich Essequibo into Guyana, the United States is sending a top defense official to Guyana to discuss the situation and decide what to do.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere Daniel P. Erikson visited Guyana on Monday and Tuesday , in what the U.S. Embassy in Guyana called a “bilateral defense and security partnership in support of regional stability". Erikson will meet with Guyana's government and military leaders and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional bloc.
In December, Guyana and Venezuela vowed to avoid using force in the dispute, which escalated early last month after Maduro called a referendum to annex Essequibo , then vowing to force an exit foreign oil producers who refused to comply, including large American multinationals.
The Venezuelan parliament has not yet approved a law establishing Venezuela's jurisdiction over the Essequibo region, which represents two-thirds of Guyana's territory and where its oil riches are concentrated. The law would risk becoming an international casus belli.
Maduro faces elections this year and there has even been speculation that the issue of legitimate ownership of the Essequibo – a very popular topic among Venezuelans – is being used to create an emergency situation that could justify postponing the elections.
Meanwhile, thanks to the easing of US sanctions on Venezuela, which remains valid despite this crisis related to Essiquibo, where Exxon made huge offshore discoveries, Venezuela's oil exports increased by 12% last year, reaching almost 700,000 barrels per day. A quantity that allows Maduro's economy to float.
Unfortunately for Caracas, however, export growth will be slower because these international tensions make it risky for oil companies to make the important investments that would be necessary for a stable increase in Venezuelan oil production. In this sense, the Essequibo dispute is harmful to the Venezuelan economy.
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The article The US sends a senior military official to Guyana to see what to do in the confrontation with Venezuela comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-mandano-un-alto-funzionario-militare-in-guyana-per-vedere-cosa-fare-nel-confronto-con-il-venezuela/ on Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:52 +0000.