Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you… the Atlantic Facade of Venezuela* (*:international recognition of it may differ)
The long diplomatic conflict between Venezuela and Guyana regarding the territory known as the Esequibo has entered a brand new phase this year. In recent weeks, both nations have toughened up their words and actions, thanks to the discovery of oil under disputed waters by ExxonMobil, whose presence is rejected by our central government.
Last month, ExxonMobil said that their search for oil and natural gas (which started in early March) was “showing promise”. On May 20th, the oil company announced “…a significant oil discovery”: their survey found high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in the Stabroek Block, which has been challenged by Venezuela as its own territorial waters since the year 2000.
One week later, the Bolivarian Republic decided it had enough and literally drew a line in the sea… via decree 1.787.
Nicolas Maduro created the “Atlantic Facade of Venezuela”, reaffirming full sovereignty over the Esequibo waters and therefore limiting Guyana’s maritime access. And just two days later, he created the Operational Maritime & Insular Defense Zone (ZODIMAIN), to be guarded by the Armed Forces through the Strategic Defense Region (REDIMAIN).
On June 8th, Guyana finally responded to Maduro’s decree with a strong statement by its Foreign Affairs Ministry:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has issued a Presidential Decree purporting to annex maritime spaces pertaining to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana under the relevant rules of International Law.
Decree No. 1.787 is a flagrant violation of International Law and is inconsistent with the principle that all States should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other States, large and small. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana rejects this illegality which seeks to undermine our efforts at development through the exploitation of our natural resources off-shore. Guyana will continue, undeterred, to access and develop its resources in accordance with its Constitution and laws in keeping with the principles of International Law…The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana wishes to make it pellucid that Decree No. 1.787 cannot be applicable to any part of Guyana’s territory and any attempt by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to apply that instrument in an extra-territorial manner will be vigorously resisted by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In light of this Guyana will spare no effort in bringing to the attention of the international community this aggressive and illegal act by Venezuela.”
Brigadier Mark Phillips, chief of staff of the Guyana Defense Force, said that “…(the GDF) will not sit idly by and allow any illegal incursion of this country’s territory,” and that they’re “…ready and capable of addressing any invasion”.
Right before the official statement, Guyana suspended the flights of Venezuelan flag carrier Conviasa. The argument was the non-payment of a deposit fee to be cashed in case of suspended operations. Passengers were left grounded, and they spent the night in Georgetown’s international airport but later they were allowed to return to Maiquetia in a special flight.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister (and new VP of International Affairs for State Oil Company PDVSA) Delcy Rodriguez has called this statement a “provocation” and placed the blame on both the Guyanese government and ExxonMobil. However, she opened the door for a meeting with her Georgetown counterpart in the future to discuss the impasse.
Just a few hours later, Delcy’s boss tried to somehow exculpate Guyana and blame everything on evil, greedy, capitalist ExxonMobil. Still, he went on to accuse Guyanese sectors of “verbal aggressions” and making “political mistakes”. He also said that “Venezuela helped Guyana’s development like no other country in the last ten years”. Talking about imperialism…
This reigniting of the Esequibo affair comes weeks after a close general election in Guyana, which gave retired military commander David Granger the Presidency. Following ExxonMobil’s announcement, Mr. Granger visited the oil drilling ship Deepwater Champion and said that he wants the Cooperative Republic to establish a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), “…so that the disposal of any natural resource will go towards benefiting the people of Guyana”.
What’s the central government’s doing here? More than playing a geo-political game, it’s engaged in a balancing act.
They want to present an image of patriotic strength over a problem of their own making – thanks to their deliberate inaction over the years, which our neighbors took huge advantages from it. But at the same time, they don’t want to alienate their CARICOM allies. But let’s not forget: CARICOM has already sided with the Guyanese on this matter.
Their strategy is doomed to failure. Ultimately, the government’s speech has to be matched by actions. It’s one thing to speak to two different crowds at the same time. It’s quite another to act as the defender of Venezuelan sovereignty as well as Guyana’s sugar daddy.
Caracas Chronicles 
Message discipline has never been this regimes..uh…discipline.
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Mirth-provoking name. Ranks at the top.
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Here’s hoping the Deepwater Champion doesn’t behave like that other Deepwater rig, the Horizon….
(Which BTW was working on the Macondo Prospect when it blew)
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I hope Guyana hauls our asses off to The Hague … and I hope they win. Get this Esequibo tantrum off our plates.
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JC, this is a critical moment in the history of the bolivarian nation. It is the obligation of the armed forces to defend the colours and honour of the nation against these colonialist capitalist incursors! Rise, brothers and sisters, and avenge the loss of the mighty Esequibo!
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Only if Diosdado and all the military ministers and governors we have lead the action.
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I really don´t get why you would say something like that Juan. The Esequibo is Venezuelan, that it’s something that’s non negotiable, yes our goverment is shit. But the State must maintain sovereignity over our territory and that includes the Esequibo which is tied to international agreements, it should be noted that the Exxon exploration was illegal in the first place.
But, you do have a point, this matter has been a scapegoat to our politicians.
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In fact, finishing to definitely losing the Esequibo to Guyana would be pretty profitable for Venezuela in the long run, because it’ll be one of the greatest failures chavismo will be known for during the upcoming decades.
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How is losing the natural resources of the Esequibo a profitable event in the long run?
No really, chavismo has at best, what? 5 years? I’m sure only water resources will last longer.
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Venezuela would have to spend god knows how many years to get a profit from Esequibo’s resources, because Guyana’ll block any attempt to do so, it’s been that way since decades ago, so you can take for lost those resources.
I’m saying that losing the Esequibo would be beneficial for Venezuela because such a failure would be a powerful argument to stop chavismo or any communist-related political movement from ever returning to power, because it would be a pain to the idiotic patrioteric pride most venezuelans have. Peronism, even being one of the most corrupt political movements in the history of Argentina, returned to power with the kirchners after several years. That’s the problem with communists, once they are kicked form the power, they’ll seek to get it again no matter the cost.
5 months, 5 years, the best option of how many years chavismo has would be tomorrow or next week, but as other dictatorships have proven before, they’re immune to economic crisis, people could be starving in the streets, crime could run rampant, and inflation could be skyrocketing, and the dictator could still hold to the power, if you don’t believe me, just look at belarus, cuba, northkorea, zimbabwe and all those shitholes that were turned into wastes by a douchebag and his gang, they can stay decades killing and starving and the people are powerless to do anything about it.
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Cross – it is my understanding that Venezuela already lost this battle over a hundred years ago. Fifty years after, a guy opened up and said that it had been a manipulated ruling so Venezuela challenged it. Then nothing else happened, except the use of the issue for political purposes.
The truth is that Venezuela has zero presence in the area. The people there speak English, they are guyanese as far as they’re concerned. How on earth Venezuela is going to get in there and start ruling over these people? What is the idea? make them venezuelans or “deport” them from their native land?
I believe this is a battle we lost long time ago, and most of it, because were were never proactive enough about it.
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Well, Maduro can pull a Putin and do a referendum to check if the Guyanese living in that particular area want to be liberated by Bolivar’s sword or not, they probably will vote “no”, but then you have Smartmatic… So popular support is certain. :) And then our man in the White House (Jim Luers) will pull the strings to let the U.S. Fourth Fleet out of this. Theoretically speaking, it can be done…
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Oh yeah, that also sounds quite possible! LOL
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@ Carolina:
I think Chavez’ plan was to show up in Jonestown one day and say: “Expropriese!”
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LOL! Sounds quite accurate.
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Reply to Cross
Essequibo has been administered since 1611. How many Governors of Essequibo has Venezuela provided? How many forts and settlements have they built? Our ancestors have toiled as slaves in the cane fields and have given their blood, sweat, and tears to claim it while you all sat there in Maracaibo depending on the exploits of Columbus and the Papal bull.
Venezuela nor Guyana is not mentioned in the bible as inheritors of anything. All are original construct from the empires. You squat, you develop, you may be able to keep. You don’t develop you have no claim. You can’t just stay on the sidelines with map in hand and say that it is yours, By
the discovery concept all of Canada and USA should belong to Venezuela.
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“Their strategy is doomed to failure.”
So what else is new?
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At the very least they should demand a hefty settlement…. a few tons of toilet paper will do.
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It was always unpleasant when I had to paint the two toned diagonal lines with “Zona en Reclamacion” written inside. Give it up and formally start the collapse process.
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Plus I bet the Guayanese will be relieved not to live in a candy striped country anymore.
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Jonestown revisited
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How many men are willing to die for dear, quasi-mythical Esequibo?
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I liked how Maduro still left something for Guyana, the small magenta triangle. Almost as mercyful and generous as Kim Jong-un…
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Clearly Guiana has perceived the regimes moment of supreme weakness , financially , economically , politically , diplomatically and is going on the offensive to claim territorial waters which Venezuela may have title to . The regime wants to maintain the best relations with all those CARICOM countries which form part of the OAS and having a tiff with one of its members isnt going to help it maintain them. Specially now that the oil supplies to CARICOM countries are starting to dwindle or ever dissapear. Venezuela’s regime doenst have many friends in the world thus the timing of this Guiana offensive .
The govt in turn is between the horns of a dilemma, it cant let Guiana just get away with its ambitions without alienating many of the super patriotic masses that support it , or oppose Guiana and thus alienate the support of the the CARICOM countries its been courting heavily all these years .
This is clear from the way Maduro is blaming the problem not on Guiana but on Exxon . What a cop out.
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Pero Bueno, Sr. Bass, the position of both the Chavez and Maduro governments on this topic have always been dictated by Cuba.
It’s more than just CARICOM pleasing to make Venezuela look good. It’s a demonstration to CARICOM and the rest of the continent that Cuba exercises heavy influence.
As for CARICOM, you would think that they would side with Venezuela if only to keep PETROCARIBE flowing.
Guayana is talking Sovereign Wealth fund and not about helping out their neighbors to the north and west with cheap loans and “llevatelo completico” payment terms for taking oil.
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Doubt very much that much oil is flowing from Venezuela to Caricom right now and if some of it is the terms of purchase are bound to be much different (much less generous ) than originally. As default looms its all going to pieces anyway. Cuba is the bogeyman we all love to blame ( its a habit we acquire in our childhood ) but they dont get their claws on what doesnt interest them . This is Venezuelans Baby , and its getting lost.
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Since this is a legal battle Venezuela has no chance of winning anyway, losing Guyana as an ally would be the cherry on top of an already iced cake.
I can’t stress how much I want to see these people coming back from this like a whipped dog.
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Just when a little “Malvinas” war of sorts would have been the perfect smoke screen that Cubazuela’s Dictatorship keeps looking for.. “Exxon and the Aglo-Dutch Axis of Evil attack the Rebuolusion Bolibanana !!
A few planes, a couple of shots, a long stand-still.. PERFECT, while the oil prices go up and the next “elections” are stolen. But no, with Caricom and everyone against that, Masburro is screwed there too.
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And recall how the Malvinas/Falklands war ended up for Galtieri and company: the fall of their regime.
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Yes, but they wouldn’t be facing the Brits
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I am not sure about that . It was British Guiana when this controversy began. I visited the Essequibo a few times and there is nothing Spanish about the place. The Dutch left a lot of footprints. There is an old Dutch fort still standing in ruins.
The Spanish had almost no influence there since early 1600’s. They were chased out by the combined forces of the English and Dutch.
I suppose there are old maps that may prove otherwise but most of it is political.
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It is sad to read such a comments like this one, worst the one from Juan Nagel who opened the fray. As it proves two of the biggest mistakes in the Esequibo file of the Venezuelan State foreing and internal policy guidelines.
It is not true that spaniards didn’t had control of the coasts between Orinoco and Esequibo rivers, as well it not true the effectively controlled the whole coast. When neerlanders stablished Stabroek about mid s.XVII they were occupying no farther than Esequibo as their main post was at Paramaribo, and the plantations covered the mouths of the Surinam, Corantijn, Demerara and Berbice rivers. They struggled to advance over Esequibo but they were expelled several times by the spaniards, besides that, they were able to settle an outpost at the mouths of Moruca, a point that became the de-facto border between the neerlanders and spaniards all over the s.XVII and XVIII.
The Munster treaty of 1648 recognized the situation, and it is one of the older proofs of the brittish overtaking of territory at the margin of the recognized treaties and borders.
When the brittish purchased the neerlander settlements of Demerara, Berbice and Esequibo, they recognized the western border as the Esequibo itself, since the spaniards trough away the neerlanders from Moruca at the end of s.XVIII when the last governors of Guayana exercised the policy of expanding the settlement farther than the Santo Tomé environs. In fact the Centurion governor’s policy followed by his succesor drawn the current settlement pattern of Guayana, with the consolidation of the towns and the stablishment of many villas de españoles in the Cuyuní basin and the Imataca slopes (Utapa, San Félix, Guasipati) as well as the rest of the Orinoco midlands and highlands Borbón, Carolina, Barceloneta, Cabruta, Atabapo, San Carlos de Río Negro, La Esmeralda and Güirior.
In the coasts between Orinoco and Esequibo there were two stablishments from that time, San Carlos de la Frontera at the very mouth of the Moruca (the de-facto border) in the same altosano that oversees the plains the neerlanders were expelled from at the end of s.XVIII, (the fortress was erected to prevent a resettlement of neerlanders in the area); and Santa Rosa Mission from the Capuchinos Order, the same that organized the mission towns of the tribes in the Delta and Cuyuní’s basin. The first one didn’t survived after the independence, but tracks of it remained long after the emancipation, as it is recorded in the surveying diaries of both brittish and venezuelans in the first half of sXIX. The second settlement still survived and is the one of the catholic missions in a country from non-catholic ascendancy.
The brittish adquired the Demerara, Berbice and Esequibo settlements from the neerlanders after the Napoleonic Wars about 1815, and they recognized the Munster Treaty limits with Spain, then they never tried to extend farther than the Moruca until 1840’s when they started to stablish a policy of control of the Orinoco mouths. Even at 1900, the british settlement in the Esequibo county of the colony, didn’t extended farther than Moruca, and the reason was the lack of a legit way of occupying the territory.
At the current time, the sociodemography of the coast between Moruca and Barima (at whose mouth was fitted the border by the 1899 Paris laudo) is very very different from the one between Moruca and Esequibo as well as the between Esequibo and Courantyne one. The population between Barima and Moruca is mainly native amerindians, arawaks to be precise. They represents about a half of the amerindian population of the Guyanese administered territories, the other half (talking in gross terms) inhabit at the southern savannahs and forest inland, (the Rupununi savannahs and the Mazaruni-Cuyuni highlands and basin). Guyanese afro and indostanic population are the major ethnic group in Guyana, about the 90% of the population, almost all of them living in the coastal plains between Moruca and Courantyne and in the Cuyuni and Esequibo junction (the inlandmost settlement from the neerlandaise period) and in the Brazilian-Esequiban border of the Tacutu basin west of the Rupununi’s savannah. As you can check in the census data from the Guyana administration, the population in the Guayana Esequiba is not more than a fifth of the country as they see, and most of it apart from the amerindian ethnic part, is concentrated at the coast between Moruca and Esequibo and the junction spots in the way between the brazilian border and Gerogetown, a traffic-line used by the brazilian Roraimenses to do their exports by reaching a seaport.
The regional adminstration in Guyana recognized this reality and separated the Guayana Esequiba coasts between three districts with in a gradation of the afro-indostanic compound in the demography. From Barima to Moruca there’s the first one with a amerindian population of about the half of the district total, from Moruca to Supenaam another one with a lesser than 20% of amerindians and a total population of about 60K people, and the easternmost one that spread in the both sides of the Esequibo mouth and on its islands with about 100K people, being the most populated of the districts, with half of the population laying in the eastern side and the islands.
The negociations between Venezuela and the Brittish in the middle of the sXIX recongnized unofficially (and almost fixed it) in the Moruca, this could be checked in the files of the Alejo Fortique representation of Venezuela in the negociations. Sadly the same way it happened with the Guajiran border, a line in Moruca, leaving the coast to Venezuela until Cape Nassau, and the whole inland basin of the Cuyuní and the south savannahs were not accepted at first by the Congress, and when the Congress finally said the yes, the brits started to push the line inland with the Schombrucks triying to reach both, the Orinoco mouth and the Cuyuní’s spings. By the way, the recorded reasons for the rejecting in the Congress were at first, the fixation of the line in Moruca and not in Esequibo, the whole-or-nothing game was bad everytime for Venezuela, remember the effect of the Cabo de la Vela, Guajira and San Faustino issues that destroyed the possibilities of a wester border with Colombia; the second reason, the imposing by the brits of a-no -cessation/exchange-of-the-territory-to-another-country clause, a one the Congress rejected fiercely (the sovereing rethoric), maybe as they were seeking a possibility to finance the public debt by selling it to the germans. (Venezuela tried to offer to the germans a possition in the Caribbean, the known possibility was Margarita, maybe the brits foresee an exchange of the coast to the germans and tried to prevented it).
I guess no one in the forum can’t locate none of the places i mention in this long post, and that is the biggest fail in the venezuelan policy about the Esequibo, not incluiding it in the social knowledge or studying it; so as the people didn’t see it as more than stripes in a map, they can’t value the importance it represents to the country.
The Geneva’s Agreement was a recognize by the brits that the Paris laudo was not fair, and was biased towards the brittish expansionism. It is the pressure instrument to a negociation and the Chavez’s policy send it to the trash container by allowing the Guyanase administration create and negociate licenses in the territory for the exploitation of resources. We never understand where our enemies were, the brazilians were pushing since the mid 80’s to reach the Caribbean and after the negotiations with Venezuela failed they started the Boa Vista Bomfim Lethem Gerogetown seaway. The current issue of the oil exploration blocks not only affects the Esequibo resources, but the Deltane Platform basin, and the Atlantic facade.
The free access to the Atlantic is not a mere fashion need in our geopolitics, in the moment Venezuela loses the freeway to transit in and out the Orinoco, the feasability of the mineral industry of the Guayana compund will be threathend as we’ll have to pay transit rights to the guyanese administration. The oil exploitation in front of Esequibo will affect the biota of the Orinoco delta because of the currents orientation, and that could be detrimental to the mangroove equilibria that allows the consolidation of debris carried by the Orinoco and the access from Boca de Navíos and the expanse of the delta towards the Atlantic.
Speculating about solutions, i guess there are many, as well as it is absurd to expect the retrocession of the whole territory is the total resingnation, maybe a solution could be the retaking of the Moruca line, maybe the enforce of the dry coast between Esequibo and Barima letting the land to Guyana and the sea resources to Venezuela, maybe the condominion solution is not too absurd (this one is the de-facto solution implied in the Geneva Agreement by the bilateral-agreement-for-the-authorization-of-resources-exploitation clause in the territory in dispute).
Giving up is the worst solution, Venezuela had given up so many times, and it seems with this goverment venezuelans started to be accomplished to give up in every fight they have to do. From the stupid queue to access corn-flour, to the true sovereing rights of liberty and integrity of the territory, venezuelans started to get a taste for give-ups.
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“..a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), “…so that the disposal of any natural resource will go towards benefiting the people of Guyana”.
Sounds like the new “Oil-to-Cash” program; Guyana would soon become the Pearl of South America.. But I doubt they can resist the infamous Oil Curse. It takes Norwegian Education or Singapore’s Iron rule to achieve that.
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A soverign wealth fund doenst mean its money goes direct to the people of guaiana , just that its invested for the benefit of the people of guaiana.
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Agree. The devil is in the details.
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I don’t trust the under-educated, greedy Politicians in Guyana much more than I trust the Nigerians or Cubazuelans.
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A small war with Guyana could yield benefits to the Government and it could be the reason to postpone the elections. Against Guyana alone, we should be able to win which will probably bump the Government approval rating. This could be the hail Mary pass that Madura is waiting for.
I honestly prefer this than a full expropriation of the private property which we know they will try to do sooner or later.
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i’m not as confident as you about this. the us will never allow hostilities against any exxon asset. agression against guyana might work internally for maduro in the very short term but international pressure to choke off venezuela will result in an immediate collapse of what’s left of the vene economy.
Maduro has no leverage here. There are too many players hoping maduro gives them a reason to act against him.
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As I said only against Guyana they have a chance. If the US protects Guyana that’s a whole different ballgame…
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The Regime has neither the money nor the army to wage any kind of war with Guiana , Guiana doesnt have it either . At most we might see some threatening action ifrom isolated small naval vessels and some skirmishes nothing more . Then the whole world will rush to intervene and the Regime ( already unpopular in many places) will come out as the thug that attacks a small innocent country. We dont appear to realize how fragile this govt is , it can send out its boogey men to attack and imprison unarmed opposition groups , and have its judges pronounce the govts innocence whatever it does . but outside of that its a mangled toothless tiger , lots of fleas and hot air .
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regrettably I agree with FF, these guys are desperate and will try the few gambits left to survive a few more years. So frightening!
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Malvinas! Guerra!
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Yes, I read this article and from nowhere the name Galtieri keeps spinning in my head.
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Don’t take it so lightly. Why would the government blow a fuse precisely now, when everything that’s happening was bound to happen sooner or later as a consequence of The Eternal’s appeasement-buyout of Guyana? This could well be a strategy, not for war (don’t make me laugh) but for an eventual curtailment of the upcoming (?) elections.
These folks don’t give a shit about the Esequibo, but the the kerfuffle resulting from this show could very well play into their hands, not in the same level of engagement as, but *a la Galtieri*.
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ZODIMAIN y REDIMAIN suenan como a nombres maracuchos. Que capacidad del chavismo de inventar siglas horrendas.
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Por cierto el solo mapa con la cagada… perdon Fachada Atlántica sin leer ningún texto ilustra bastante bien lo ridícula que es la reclamación venezolana sobre el Esequibo.
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Heh, es como si el fiambre primero, y ahora maburro, se tiraran sobre el mapa y balbucearan “¡Todo el atlántico es mío, MÍO!”
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Look at the northernmost line which marks the oficially signed treaty boundary with Trinidad , then you go south and at some point meet the Guiana territorial waters , in between there is maritime area which Venezuela has title to . The in between area is determined by drawing a line from the border separating the two countries- which can be angled if the border line is angled one side or another -. (even if the land claim were to be abandoned) , On top of that the underwater reservoirs could extend beyond the surface border ( whatever it is) and then include reservoirs located at both sides of the line . It isnt so simple .!! Any claim to water areas oil wealth doenst belong to the regime it belongs to the Country , for the future , unless we believe this regime is eternal. !!
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The maritime territory claimed by Venezuela with this May 27th pronouncement appears on the surface to expropriate territory claimed by Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Suriname.Great way to piss the neighbors.
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They just don’t “work and play well with others.”
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Yes, it it seems that they are invading more than one country’s territorial waters:
https://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/stratfor_large__s_/public/main/images/Guyana_maritime_claims%20%281%29.jpg?itok=ve-IUX8e
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Actually looking at the map you can see the trinidad venezuela maritime border line (wich part of a binding treaty) extending to the east to areas which are somewhat north of the purported maritime area claimed by Guiana , With this treaty Venezuela can claim Trinidads recognition that it (not guiana) has title to the area south of the boundary . The land border between Venezuelas original territory and the portion it claims which the map shows extending on a straight line towards the sea , might actually follow a slanted line depending on the way the border line is configured where it meets the sea.
Venezuela for decades , prior to Chavez did entered into a number of boundary setting treaties with most of its island neighbors to the north . This was done cleanly and professionally . So going north the maritime boundaries are pretty well settled.
The history of how the British did a back door deal with russia (regarding some other area of the planet) to get the russian arbitrator to side with them on the Venezuelan border conflict is pretty well documented . In the end the brits coerced the american rep of venezuelan to agree to giving up a large part of its claim threatening that otherwise the russian rep would give the brits more land. It all came out of a letter written by the american rep ( a lawyer in the US firm now representing most of the regimes interests abroad . the firm of Curtis Mallet). . In the sixties there was the opinion in Venezuela’s chancery that the contents of this letter might invalidate the boundary settlement made in the early part of the 20th Century.
Maduro doenst care about any of this , they are giving the country’s wealth away to Cuba , China etc without even a glimmer of regret , They would gladly give Guiana whatever they ask for , stopping them is the fear that by doing so they will alienate the patriotic passions of many of their followers. They are good at making threatening noises but only to make people believe they (rightly or wrongly) defend the countries borders. They care more about maintaining CARICOMS support at the OAS than about Venezuelas titles to any land or maritime areas .!!
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I see your point regarding T&T maritime border, it’s just that by quickly juxtaposing the two pictures, it seems that Vnzla is invading T&T waters too, but as the disclaimer in the Stratfor map states “all maritime borders are approximate”. It may not be the case at all — that T&T waters are being coveted too. And the fact that T&T hasn’t yet said anything on this issue is a positive sign.
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Maybe they can just invent a short victorious war and report on the glorious defense of the la patria, without actually fighting. I mean, even if some papers report that this is false, all of the Hegonomy Communicational can call this “imperialist lies” by treasonous “apatriadas”. No one get’s hurt, Maduro get’s his boost in the polls, and “war expenses” provide more excuses for why the average Venezuelan can’t find food, medicine, or car parts.
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Well, the Colombian and Guyana neighbors are pissed, the Castros are in love with Obama and Europe, the Russians and the Chinese don’t wanna lend anymore cash (unless they get a Huge Kick-Back on some guiso in armament or spare parts..). The Pope is talking to huelguistas at the Vatican..
Seems like poor Venezuela has been left all alone with Evo masca-coca and a few other oil-thirsty corrupt chupamedias
No wonder DiabloDado NarcoCabello is Brazil all of a sudden. He can probably still Bribe some Thugs over there and make a couple more juicy deals.
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What an embarrassment for Venezuela – insisting that it has territorial rights to half of a neighboring country because of a legal/diplomatic dispute that it lost over 100 years ago.
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Cubazuela is way beyond “embarrassments”..
it’s simply about stealing as much as possible, as fast as possible, for those who still don’t get it..
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True, but this has been an embarrassment for Venezuela since, what, the 60s? That is not to say that Maburrozuela does not plumb new depths of embarrassment.
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Whatever the deal, the regime has three weapons platforms that are a problem in that area. The Sabalo sub, the two Lupo frigates, and the Su-30Mk2’s. Then there’s everything else. If Maduro wants to put teeth into this he can and Guyana has nothing to stop them. The first thing I expect is Armada vessels to start patrols. Only the Lupo’s have firepower. The Navantia’s are floating white elephants yet problematic for unarmed vessels and rigs. Armada can start harrassing at will. Guyana is going to the UN. I don’t where the US Navy fall into this. It’s not a priority but I would like to see the US Navy in those waters just like we do around the globe.
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If Maduro wants to send his navy he can put on an impressive display with 11 warships. He has to follow the Chinese here. Too bad those waters are deep.
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South American countries fight only their own people. Remember when the Argentine “Navy” tried to take on the Brits over the Faulkland Islands. That lasted till the first shot got fired. Ven is not gong to fight Guyana. That’s just silly.
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