Britain to send patrol ship to Guyana amid Venezuela border dispute

Last Updated on Sunday, 24 December 2023, 9:33 by Denis Chabrol

A Royal Navy patrol ship will be sent to Guyana in a show of British support for the Commonwealth country, the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper reported.

The South American country is in a dispute with Venezuela over a mineral-rich border region.

HMS Trent will take part in joint exercises with Guyana after Christmas.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic patrol task deployment.”

The offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent is in Barbados over Christmas and will then head to Guyana for activities which will be carried out at sea.

The ship is not expected to dock in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital.

Earlier this month, the Foreign Office minister for the Americas and Caribbean, David Rutley, visited Guyana.

He said: “The border issue has been settled for over 120 years. Sovereign borders must be respected wherever they are in the world.”

Neither the Guyana Defence Force nor the Guyana government has announced the impending arrival of the British Navy patrol ship.

The United States Army’s Southern Command earlier this month conducted joint aerial operations with the GDF. France’s navy had been expected to visit Guyana’s waters several weeks ago, but the vessel encountered technical difficulties and returned to French Guiana.

The President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali and the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro on December 14 declared that they would not do anything to breach the peace between their two countries, after weeks of threats to annex Guyana’s Essequibo county, chase out investors from Guyana’s concessions and a military buildup on the Venezuela side of the border with Guyana.

Tension over the border region of Essequibo has raised worries about a military conflict, with Venezuela insisting Essequibo was part of its territory during the Spanish colonial period and arguing a 1966 Geneva agreement with Britain and the country then called British Guiana, now Guyana, nullified a border drawn in 1899 by international arbitrators.

The dispute was reignited with the discovery of oil in Guyana and escalated when Venezuela voted in a referendum on 3 December to claim two-thirds of its smaller neighbour.