The Venezuelan government has confirmed information about the presence of secret military bases of the US Southern Command and CIA camps in the Essequibo region disputed with Guyana, the country’s President Nicolas Maduro said.
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“We have confirmed information that in the territory of Guyana-Essequibo, temporarily under the administration of Guyana, there are secret military bases of the Southern Command, military cells of the Southern Command and CIA cells to prepare attacks on the population of Tumeremo, the population of the south and east of Venezuela and preparations for escalation against Venezuela,” the politician said during the signing ceremony of the law on the protection of the Guyana-Essequibo territory, which was broadcast by VTV.
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According to the politician, the disputed region and Guyana are now controlled by the Southern Command, the CIA and the American oil company ExxonMobil, with the goal of seizing Venezuelan resources.
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“I’m not exaggerating. They control Congress, the two parties that make up the government and the opposition majority, they control the entire government, as well as Guyana’s defense and police,” Maduro added.
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During a ceremony at the Miraflores Palace, Maduro signed the Organic Law for the Protection of Essequibo, approved in the first reading last December. The law establishes a new Venezuelan state west of the Essequibo River, includes the activation of a social assistance plan for the entire population of these lands, a census and the issuance of documents.
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“We are moving to a new stage. We called a referendum, and thanks to the power of the referendum, and now the power of the Organic Law for the Defense of Guyana-Essequibo, we have the necessary tools so that in national unity, with the greatest nationalistic and patriotic fervor, Venezuelans can to move forward in the comprehensive restoration of historical rights to Guyana-Essequibo,” Maduro stressed.
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Venezuela’s dispute over the territory of Essequibo with Great Britain and later neighboring Guyana has been ongoing since the 19th century. The government of the Bolivarian Republic has stepped up its efforts to return this territory to the country after the Guyanese authorities began to transfer mineral-rich areas of the disputed shelf to oil companies for development.
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In 1966, the countries signed the Geneva Agreement to find a peaceful solution to the dispute, but in 2018 Guyana filed a case at the International Court of Justice in which it asks the court to legally approve the 1899 Arbitral Award, which gives the country absolute control over the territory. This was sharply opposed by Caracas, which intends to resolve the issue of its territory with its neighbors without intermediaries.
